Breakfast / Lunch Report -------> Wednesday October 12, 2011

[Michael-GnL-Michael]

Happy Wednesday,

I made it to work on time yesterday after less than 4 hours sleep the night before. I did not have time to make a pot of coffee so I stopped at an espresso shop for the coffee and a slice of banana bread. It was a very warm and still day and uncharacteristically humid so I just had a raw carrot with a chopped up avocado and some chunks of cheddar cheese for lunch.

Today for breakfast I will again be having coffee except brewed at home along with a strawberry fruit bar and perhaps some gingerbread cookies. I had that Black Forrest ham sandwich I spoke of for dinner last night instead of lunch. I might have the same thing for lunch today. It is perfect when it is warmer. It is 2 weeks into October and more summery than summer was.

I write these up in the evening and post them as soon as they are ready sometime after midnight. Because I did not get enough rest last night I am going to have a shorter LR today so I have more time to sleep. The others will be longer.

I am on a fairly tight budget. In May I bought a guitar, keyboard and some other gear then about a minute later the economy took another dump. Business has slowed down and now four months later I am wanting another guitar. I have the money I just want to see that it is being replaced sufficiently. So here and there I skip meals, eat lighter and at home, etc.

One benefit of resisting various purchases is that I delayed buying a kindle I had in mind when I was buying the guitar. I was ready to start another book and cancelled an order so I could get the kindle version with a new kindle instead. They just announced several new kindles and there are now three options that are less than the previous lowest option. I still have not ordered one though.


Non-G&L:

I love dark roasted blends of coffee. I am not addicted to it or anything. I am usually lacking good rest so the caffeine has no effect on me. I can drink coffee and go right to bed. I like the aroma and taste. I like the nurturing aspect of the experience. I also like the environment of certain espresso shops. But I really enjoy the baked goods and my favorite with coffee is banana bread.

I did not start out liking anything sweet. I did not eat candy or cake. I think I may have gotten sick one of the first times I had cake and I remembered that. Somehow I have changed and I do love a good bakery. I love breads and pastries. Ironically eating good pastry often helps when I have a stomach ache or anything resembling early symptoms of the flu. Good tiramisu is wonderful. Fruit pies are another favorite.

Fortunately there is a farm with fresh pies nearby. They are about $13 and after I was introduced to them I had spent $700 on pies when I stopped collecting the tins. I was getting 1-2 a week and eating a slice with breakfast, lunch and dinner. Boysenberry, olallieberry and apple are the best and in that order. I now have had so many pies I am immune to it. As soon as I take a bite I am done. I could have bought a guitar by avoiding pie alone.

There are really good bakeries where I currently live. But these are very pricey. The pies I mentioned are from a farm. Local stores carry them for $13 but they are only $10 if you get them at the farm. Something comparable at one of the bakeries is $20+. The espresso cafe I like has bakery goods that are just as good, convenient and reasonably priced. I rarely go to the bakeries in this town.

There have been truly good old fashioned bakeries in the cities I grew up in. When I was in elementary school there was a bakery that sold this rolled cake with whipped cream and fresh strawberries that was very good. Although the concept is not uncommon nothing tastes as good. When you see this it usually has syrup or at least one component is something that was not made fresh, (i.e. the cake, the whipped cream, adding a packaged syrup, the strawberries are not handled properly, etc.). Everything was made fresh and simply at this bakery so the flavor was simple and pure without any weird after taste, a sign of something processed.

In the town where I attended junior high and high school there was an even better bakery. Everything was good and it was sold at 1/5 the price of any other source of bakery goods. They had the best apple turnovers. At first they were $ .25, the last time I was there I think they were $1.50 each. The filling was made with fresh apples and consistently good year round. I would go in there and order dozens of turnovers and pastries at a time. I might freeze some of it but I could also finish everything off within a couple of days.

You might wonder but I am not overweight. I have had a metabolism that allowed me to eat anything I wanted all of my life. I did lose 25lbs within a month and a half after purchasing my Legacy and keyboard though (true).

When I go out to dinner part of the experience includes dessert if the restaurant offers something good. For instance, I choose an Italian restaurant by the quality of their tiramisu and bread.


Do you eat any form of dessert?

Does your town have any decent bakeries or sources of good bakery items?



G&L:

Have you considered custom ordering a G&L?

If so, have you ever taken it as far as communicating with a dealer in any form?

What was your impression of the dealer's experience of ordering G&L guitars for customers?

Do you believe handling the option is good or a hindrance to dealers?




These two songs feature different approaches to George Harrison songs using a ukelele:


Is Paul playing a G&L Ukeleleo at the beginning?


[youtube]S7_MsY2IJz4[/youtube]



Not sure if this has been posted here before. This is a great performance by Jake Shimabukuro:


[youtube]puSkP3uym5k[/youtube]



Have a great Wednesday!

Thank you to everyone who read all the way down to this sentence.

.

[astutzmann]

I try to avoid sweets. I have been overweight all my life and I try not to eat them. A few years ago, I developed an allergy to tree nuts, mostly almonds and pecans, so I try to avoid all nuts, except peanuts. Peanuts are actually not nuts, they grow on the ground so are considered a vegetable. Glad I am not allergic to those, since peanut oil is used a lot and would be hard to avoid.

The nut allergy has curbed my desire for sweets, too much of a risk. Anaphalactic shock is not fun folks.

My vice these days is salty, like kettle cooked potato chips, good french fries, etc.

Being a lefty, its hard to find guitars so I decided with some consultation from southpawguy (thanks Paul), to order an ASAT Special Deluxe. I like everything about that guitar, except I didn't want the standard 7.25 radius neck. I was intrigued with ebony as a fretboard after seeing the 30th anniversary guitars. So, I contacted a dealer who also does a lot of lefties about ordering a lefty ASAT Special Deluxe, #3neck (12" radius, wider neck), ebony fretboard, locking tuners, black pickup covers, graph tech nut. Ordering and receiving were no issue, the dealer only wanted $100 deposit, so it was a piece of cake.

Guitar was built, shipped and sent to me in about 10 weeks, I am very happy with the process and the dealer. There was an issue with the guitar but my local luthier fixed it and I am happy.

As far as the options go, I know G&L can't provide everything, but my guitar would have been better with black locking tuners and a black saddle lock bridge and black knobs. THese were not available.

I wouldn't hesitate to go this route anytime.

[darwinohm]

Michael, being a retired guy has advantages in that a short night doesn't change my morning. It does take a fair amount of time to prepare the LRs and thanks for stepping up this week.



Do you eat any form of dessert?
I am not a dessert guy but get into the main meal big time.


Does your town have any decent bakeries or sources of good bakery items?
Yes we do but there are some some spectacular bakeries in the Iron Range are of Minnesota and many around the state. After all, we have a Scandinavian heritage!



G&L:

Have you considered custom ordering a G&L?
Good question. I may if I could could have the Serial number plate not installed but Ii really like to see a guitar before buying. My concern is what would you do with a flaw in one that was just ordered.

If so, have you ever taken it as far as communicating with a dealer in any form?
The dealer I go to is very good about communicating in general and the dealer can make quite a difference if you have an order/warranty issue.

What was your impression of the dealer's experience of ordering G&L guitars for customers?

Do you believe handling the option is good or a hindrance to dealers?

I will make a comment on warranties as I just had an experience with Fender which will probably prevent me from buying another one and it was not a dealer issue. I have seen warranty issues solved on this board very quickly with G&L and I commend them for their customer service. That is the bottom line and is so important when it comes to the ultimate purchase. Four years ago I had never owned a G&L and now I can assure that there will be more in the future in addition to the 13 we already own!-- Darwin

[sirmyghin]

Do you eat any form of dessert?

Big fan of dessert here but I keep it to a minimum and special occasions, have to keep fit and all that. I can put on weight readily should I choose. No clue on bakeries I have never endeavored to look. I do love a good Tiramisu though, but I am more interested in a solid main course and hte apps in a restaurant.



Have you considered custom ordering a G&L?


I have custom orderred a G&L, spoke a lot with a few dealers and picked the one who was actually trying to make it easy on me and did the leg work without griping. He had no problem doing everything required, included running some not listed stuff by the factory, in order to get my guitar made even though some of the stuff didn't pan out. I think it is good for the dealers as it removes the chance of people passing up floor stock which may or may not be slightly dinged/worn.


Dark Coffee is a wonderful thing, I had to replace my tea habit so took up coffee at the time, and nowadays most of the time I am drinking something very dark, although hthe occasional light roast can be delightful. The name of the game is of course good coffee, which unfortunately one must pay for.

[KenC]

Coffee, dessert and such:

I used to be a major coffee drinker. I flirted with the idea of trying to open a coffee shop when I got out of the Navy. That was before coffee chains took over the local markets, though, so in retrospect it was a good thing I went down a different career path. When I was in grad school I could easily put down a dozen mugs of Italian roast while I was studying, and then fall asleep as soon as I got home. All of that acidity finally caught up with me, and now I have to be content with tea and Nexium. While it lasted, I was also a big fan of dark roasts. I love dessert, but try to stay way from it as much as possible.

Guitars and weight loss:

I took a very similar approach to yours when I bought my F-100 last spring. I was living alone in an apartment due to a job transfer, so I had complete control over my meal choices. I knew my wife would bicker over the need for another guitar, but wouldn't recognize an extra case in the collection. I decided the best way to "fly below the radar" would be to cut back on all my other expenses and squirrel away the money. The majority of my monthly expenses went to food, so I went to Costco and purchased about a hundred chicken sausages, with buns and hot dog fixings. The total came to about fifty dollars, but I was able to last for a month on this stash. It actually got me pretty close to the price of the F-100, and I lost about ten pounds in the process.

I've been out of the apartment for five months now, and have regained the weight (and then some). If I could only figure out a way to repeat the "F-100 diet"...

Custom G&Ls:

I've been playing electric guitar and bass for almost thirty years, but my only new instrument was an acoustic guitar back in the 1980s. I have been thinking about the inevitability of a custom G&L lately, though. The top contenders would be either an ASAT or a hardtail SC-2, and the finish would definitely be Belair Green. Options would probably be a quartersawn neck, ebony board and matching headstock.

Ken C

[sickbutnottired]

Coffee and Sweets. I love coffee and sweets. Actually, I love to eat. I wasn't in too sweets until I got married, hmmm. Moderation is the key, but that is not my strong suit. I am not a daily coffee drinker, but if I get started, look out!

Good coffee is such a treat, but my favorite coffee is the folgers my Grandpa makes on his boat. He loves to come through his boys out of bed about 5 am for some good fishing. Then we go out on the lake in his cabin cruiser and he makes us coffee. It's amazing!


I have never bought a new electric guitar. Well, my F-100 maybe was technically new, but not practically. I am going to custom order a bluesboy--and make it my dream bolt-on neck as far as appointments.

It feels like a gamble to me, though. Because some guitars have it, and some that look identical and should be just don't...

[guitar_ed]

Coffee & Sweets: Coffee, no. Nor tea, nor soda, nor anything with caffeine in it. Not a religious thing, a lifestyle choose thing. I used to drink a minimum of a six-pack of Pepsi per day, some days more. It really got to me. So I quit about the time I hurt my back. The Dr. gave me some wonderful drugs for the back thing. I detoxed and I wasn't there to enjoy it.

Sweets on the other hand, I eat. Way too much.

Custom ordered G&Ls. I ordered 2 of them. The first was an ASAT Deluxe. The real problem there was the guy at G&L who would tell dealers all kinds of crap about how close the guitar was to done. So my hopes would get raised, then dashed, then raised. Repeat, ad nauseum. The second one when much better. The time to deliver is long, but there was no crap. It was delivered pretty much on time.

edg

[blargfromouterspace]

I like coffee a lot. I have a pot of it every morning. I'm not all that keen on your espresso types that you get everywhere. I like plunger made stuff. It's far less bitter and I find it much more palatable. I really like the way coffe is made in South-east Asian countries. It tends to be very sweet but it tastes incredible. I'm a total caffeine nancy-boy. I can't drink coffee after 6pm if I want to be in bed by midnight. I drink a lot of tea after 6pm.

I like dessert a lot. I have had to cut back as I too stack weight on really easily. Favourite dessert would be a good sherry trifle. Nothing like a big mess of jelly, custard, whipped cream and sponge cake.


I've custom ordered a G&L. I'd do it again too.

It feels like a gamble to me, though. Because some guitars have it, and some that look identical and should be just don't...

I agree. I played a real pig of an ASAT in a shop a while back and I got to admit it has put me off a bit.

[Philby]

Desserts: Yep, I like a good dessert but I can't stomach really sweet food like I used to. A fresh, zingy lemon tart or lemon meringue pie is my favourite, closely followed by flourless orange cake. We don't really have dessert at our house, so it's always a treat to go out for dinner and order dessert.

Coffee: Love the smell, but can't stomach it. Not to mention that my body is not used to caffeine and I can literally feel my heart beating louder and faster on the few occasions I've drunk a cup. My wife is a die-hard espresso addict. I reckon I could stomach one of her short blacks if it had 10-15 sugars in it. I bought her the full grinder/coffee machine combo for her birthday. From her reaction, I reckon I've earned enough brownie points to buy another G&L.

Custom Ordering: To get the exact G&L I'd like I would have to custom order. But the combination of (a) price (b) distance and (c) it might be less than the sum of its parts (i.e. a pig as Jamie said) has put me off so far. I don't know that I'd trust a local dealer to look after me either.

[Dave_P]

Desserts: Yes, please! actually I need to cut myself off, I'm in a bit of a losing battle with sweets. For me it's chocolate chip cookies. I love to cook and usually bake them from scratch, at least there's no hydrogentated high frutose monodiglycerides....right?

Coffee: Hate it, tried to like it a few times and it never stuck. I do love tea though and have a cup of plain black tea most mornings. In the afternoon and evenings I have other varieties (white/green/oolong), or black tea again if I'm feeling lazy.

Custom Ordering: I would love to custom order a G&L and have several planned out in my head. The problem(s) I have is there are a lot of good deals used, I don't care for the SN# plate and as a someone who prefers an all maple neck, bi-cuts look a lot nicer. I don't think it looks any different for a rosewood board but on an all maple neck the board seam just doesn't look as nice.

-Dave

[blargfromouterspace]

. I love to cook and usually bake them from scratch, at least there's no hydrogentated high frutose monodiglycerides....right?

But that's the best part!!!!!

[Boogie Bill]

Well, I COULD lie and say I never eat sweets, but one look at my jumbo-jet sized body, and...well, you'd know I'd be lying.

I like desserts, but the thing is, I don't like them TOO sweet, and that's a problem I run into with many packaged deserts. I love donuts and maple bars, and there's a really good donut shop near us, but I have to scrape off 2/3s of the frosting. My mom had a great, sweet bread recipe for cinnamon rolls and she would top them with a slight drizzle of a simple vanilla-ed powdered sugar frosting and they were perfect. I like cake, but I usually scrape off the frosting. Seems like everything is way too sweet for me.

I've been a fan of Starbuck's since they opened up the first one in Seattle down in the Pike Place Market. Don't really care for anything darker than SBUX
Italian Roast, though a Turkish coffee with baklava is okay. The coffee has to kill the overt sweetness of the honeyed baklava; the baklava makes the bitter coffee palatable. Unfortunately, my baklava and my coffee never seem to come out even.

We have an espresso machine at home, and use it frequently. Unfortunately, I had to switch to decaf after an episode of atrial fibrillation landed me in the hospital three years ago. And now, I need to decrease my lactose intake, so no more cream in my coffee--I've made the switch to Coffee-Mate, or just a tiny dollop of whipped cream on my espresso.


I would custom order a Comanche XII in a heartbeat, if it was available. I would probably actually get two of them, seriously. Going to talk to my luthier tomorrow, and one of the things we'll talk about is a Strat-based 12-string.

I know of one G&L dealer in the area; however I will not deal with this shop. t
They cheated and screwed me on a drum machine back in 2002, and I will never buy anything from them. If I was going to order something, I would probably deal with Tim at Buffalo Brothers, or some other recommended national dealer.

I went to a Martin guitar clinic at Portland Music on Broadway tonight and heard clinician Craig Thatcher, who's pretty darn good. I've got a few D-28s, just like Paul's, only mine aren't made backwards! I got a free Martin T-shirt; and tomorrow, I'll take a guitar in for FREE strings! How cool is that!!!

Bill

[Michael-GnL-Michael]

astutzmann,

I think peanuts are actually a bean. They taste great but give me a stomach ache. I cannot eat that many true nuts at a time either. They are difficult to digest. Pecans are the easiest for me to deal with and I like the flavor and texture. I have tried various butter alternatives to peanut butter. Almond butter is good if you can find it made without the husk. I can only eat blanched almonds. The husk kills my stomach.

I see a lot of people defending G&L over what they can or cannot offer. I think they could offer black as an alternative to chrome. There would be enough demand to justify it. So many finishes would look great with black. They just have to want to offer more. In many ways they seem to want to be limited. That is fine if the limited choices make sense.

__________


darwinohm,

We need to start asking the factory about leaving the S/N plate off.

I think some dealers give you a couple of days to reject the guitar. I have definitely seen some that don't though. This dilemma is something encouraging me to pay more for something at a local shop. I do not want to pay for the "new" when it is really used by all of the shoppers and browsers. I also could avoid taxes buying from any dealer out of state. But I would not get to handle the guitar when deciding.

There was such a difference between guitars I am concerned about what I am going to get buying from anyone out of the area.

Warranties……shipping the guitar to the factory or having parts shipped to me is fine but I am not impressed with this dealer's service dept. scratching up my pickguard while removing the plastic

__________


sirmyghin,

Yes the order option can retain the business of people who would not buy stock on hand. I have not located a dealer. In sales, you have to treat everyone as a possible customer even if they seem to be only looking or toying with an idea. You are cultivating potential future business. It is part of the game. Some people don't want to be bothered. They just want you to come in pay and walk out with merchandise. They subtly discourage people that require more time and effort because the sales people and some owners do not believe it is worth their it. When a dealer can design guitars they think or know will sell why bother with people wanting special attention? The guitars bring in the same money but one is in & out while the other is a long drawn out process over months. Some dealers have not ordered a guitar for a customer. Even I know more that they do.

__________


KenC,

When you saved and purchased that guitar under the radar was it sitting at a store where you could place it on layaway? I imagine you could not put it on a credit card under the radar. How did you lock the deal up so your effort did not go to waste?

___________


sickbutnottired,

I agree about the gamble. I am contemplating how much it is worth to have something you know feels great but at a significantly higher price. A guitar that was loaded with features and beautiful was unplayable to me.

___________


guitar_ed,

"I detoxed and I wasn't there to enjoy it."

Meaning?

When I was 10 I drank a lot of Dr Pepper and ate Cracker Jacks routinely. Now if I drink more than a glass of soda I start to feel weird and need to flush my system with water. It taints your taste buds so water does not taste good and it discourages drinking water to quench your thirst. In my case at least.

__________


blargfromouterspace,

I have yet to try the plunger though I have heard enough to know it is the ideal.

I am worried about receiving a pig. May pay dearly to avoid one. I would surely lose more if a great deal used from out of town was a dud and I had to sell it. Still unsure about the idea.

__________


Philby,

I gather that you only buy if you have a chance to handle the item first?

__________


Dave_P,

I have not had a chance to compare the two neck types. The board seam you refer to on the non-bi-cut is the seam visible from the side of the neck as you look at the fretboard while playing? It is the seam between the fretboard and neck and would be where a binding would be located on a bound neck?

__________


Bill,

Do they have Cinnabons in your area? http://www.cinnabon.com/

I like donuts made a certain way but I do not know if any shops that cook them this was are left. Everywhere donuts now seem to be fluffy and lacking spices. A cinnamon donut does not have enough cinnamon. The good way had a thick skin from frying the donut in oil. It was denser too. Cannot find those anywhere around here.

When ordering it is better to go out of state and avoid taxes. I pay enough taxes and I am not advocating cheating the gov. I just think there are better deals to be made out of state. Besides I am not impressed with the dealer near me.


Sorry if I missed anyone.

Thanks everyone!