Lunch Report for Tuesday, November 1st

[Lefty]

No progress on getting my Fender amp. repaired. The extended warranty company has not responded to my request for a service ticket yet. I may have to turn up the heat. If that doesn't work, I'll have to find a local amplifier repair tech and eat the costs..

~~~~~

Lunch today will leftover Adelle's sausage made into a Farmer's Omelet type of thing.. A home grown Granny Smith apple slices dipped in caramel for dessert.

~~~~~

Somewhere along the way, probably shortly after I married my first wife, I lost interest in guitars. She may have helped me lose interest? That was so long ago I honestly don't remember. Probably just as well!
Regrettably, I sold both of the guitars mentioned in Monday's lunch report and quit playing for a LONG time. I spent a few years with a Yamaha Upright piano sitting in the living room, sold it - it wasn't my thing. Some years after that I got into MIDI sythesizers - I had several keyboards, mixers, etc. over the next several years. Synthesizers were all the rage - I did a lot of recording of my own compositions using Cakewalk software on my old Windows 98 computer. The last keyboard equipment I purchased was a Roland JV-80, a Roland U-220, a 350 watt A-B keyboard amp, and a pair of speaker cabinets with 15" woofers and metal horns. I'm not very interested in keyboards these days, but the value of my equipment is such that it wouldn't make any sense to part with it. I pretty much use the amplifier to play backing tracks through my laptop. The old computer got recycled.

Does any of this sound familiar to any of you?

~~~~~

My Second G&L guitar is a Bluesboy Classic in Honeyburst:



I also bought this guitar from Don Depaola. Here he is, playing my Bluesboy:

Ghost Tree Dance

[youtube]ip8WOjLsbcc[/youtube]

Slow Improv - Bluesboy

[youtube]x5hPQvetZcc[/youtube]

Also one of my favorites!

Why is one G&L guitar never enough???

[jwebsmall]

[youtube]Rq6iw_x6eW8[/youtube]

[youtube]x5hPQvetZcc[/youtube]

[Lefty]

I give up - How did you do that?? The way I have it posted is a real PITA for viewers, including myself. I would love to know how to fix that.

PM would be fine?

Thanks, Craig!

All fixed!!

[darwinohm]

Lefty, much like you I dropped out of the music thing from 1965 to 1999. I played two gigs during that time. Since getting back into it, i have enjoyed it thoroughly and have become serious about it. The same is true for the guitars. In 2006 I had two working guitars and one waiting for a restoration.

I hope you have success with your extended warranty company. Some of the extended warranty companies do not actually repair items but simply replace them due to the repair cost/replacement cost. This may not be the case with a amplifier. Anyway, I hope you get it sorted out soon.

It is impossible to own only one G&L as long as they come in different colors.

Your Bluesboy is beautiful. Very nice ash grain --Darwin

[Craig]

I give up - How did you do that?? The way I have it posted is a real PITA for viewers, including myself. I would love to know how to fix that.

PM would be fine?

PM sent.

[jwebsmall]

I ran out of apples - have to go to the grocery store today.

I've seen GAS in people who don't have guitars. I figure it is
an instinct to collect and/or replay the rush you got the last
time you acquired a new member for your herd. I've been
sky diving and I've seen the same addiction to adrenalin there
and in crotch rocket riding (motorcyle) - I got rid of mine
before it killed me - I was jumping roads like Evil Knievel
just starting out and couldn't get my fill. Actually my boss
told me he was looking for my replacement because he
saw what was happening. The more rush you get the more
you need it. It may be a subliminal quest to find
completeness and never quite reaching it like an infinite series
or asymptotic lines approaching zero at infinity,i.e. trying to
compute the limit of the unknown experience. And it also
seems to be related to a quest for perfection, the ultimate
(girl, gun, guitar, etc.) My boss collects guns for example and
that is where I first heard the term GAS (only been playing guitar 4 years).
The guy next door to my apartment collects an endless series of girls
so GAS works there too. I doubt he'll ever find Ms. Right - he
sure seems happy though trying.

Should I go to a shrink to cure my GAS? Why waste the money?
My boss's wife is a nurse and her girl friend's husband is a shrink.
You know what he spends his money on? He's got every piece
of equipment Eddie Van Halen ever used. He and his wife travel
around the world chasing EVH concerts. Eddie knows them and
invites them back stage. So why should I feed his habbit?
What's his gig? Listening to others GAS so he can inflate his
own.

The more money you have the more GAS you can have. I think it
may be related to that concept of absolute power corrupting absolutely.
I'm thankful my GAS doesn't come from a bottle or I'd be living in a box
under a bridge somewhere. Anyway GAS appears to be a universal
phenomena that manifests itself in one form or another depending on
one's ability to support the selected habbit. For example you hear
MacDonalds toys advertised as a collection inviting kids to collect
all 6 or all 6 glasses or whatever. If you don't have a complete set
it is imperfect and the quest for perfection goes on! It works on
kids of all ages.

Have you seen Jeff Beck's car collection? I guess he's played
just about every guitar he ever desired.

Who hasn't seen the bumper sticker "he who dies with the most
toys wins." There's a hunger in the human soul obviously.

Some end up being the pusher for other people's GAS so they
can feed there own GAS.

Why does Warren Buffet continue chasing money? He rarely spends
it on himself. It's got to be for the rush of the next deal.

I walked by one of those Friday night classic car shows you see
at the Silver Dinner. I talked to a guy who was there with his
1960 Corvette convertible. Wow what a car. Anybody with that
kind of money obviously knows how to serve other people's GAS
needs. I asked him what did his wife say about him getting the
car. He laughed and said you're right she did complain about it
but he explained to her that it was cheaper than spending it on
a shrink and besides when he goes to sell it he'll get more
than he paid for it! That encounter is what started opening
my eyes to this GAS phenomena.

Obviously you need a few guitars to cover different sounds.
But strangely I've met some pro musicians with very few
guitars. (Not often but they do exist. They probably live
out their GAS urges in something else perhaps?)

I never knew about GAS until my late 50's. Why? Because
I didn't have spare change until recently. Never had the
mid life crisis only because I couldn't afford one. The
motorcycle I didn't get to my early 50's when I first
started to experience it. When I got rid of the motorcyle
I got into guitars which were easier to start acquiring than
motorcyles and my GAS appetite when through the roof.
I can only imagine what it would be to have success too
early and too young. GAS at an early age onset like diabetes
could kill you.

Why did rock stars smash guitars? Probably multiple reasons
but one no doubt is so they could make room on their wall
and in their garage for something new. The traditions of breaking
wine glasses I heard came from the Indus River valley in
Indian where the industry of glass and jewelry making became
so prolific they could afford to.

People join country clubs (I understand that is a similar phenomenon
about golf and chasing the perfect club to improve your game - sounds
familar), and there are gentlemen's clubs, etc. I've thought about
the idea of a guitar club. To join you have to donate some many
guitars to the repository. Each month the repository sends you a
guitar to have for the month before you return it to the repository.
That way every month you are getting a new guitar. I think such
a club already exists. It's called eBay.

GAS with guitar is particularly addictive because you are chasing
the perfect guitar in order to chase the perfect sound. It's
a double whammy - two rushes for the price of one.

[Sean Clavin]

I have lost interest in playing at one time in my life. I had just come off the road and went back into teaching full time and doing session work. Playing local club gigs on the weekends was my only "real" playing and even that was not doing it for me. This feeling lasted about a year or so and I finally talked to my wife....(the good one, not my starter wife) and she really helped me put it in perspective that I have to find what turned me on to music when I was a kid and try to find that whenever I pick up a guitar. It mad so much sense to me and I was instantly turned on to the guitar again. Sometimes all it takes is a conversation with someone you trust to get your head in the game.

Lunch: Jelly samiches wif the grand daughter.

One G&L, or Fender for that matter, is never enough. I am very fortunate that my wife understands my obsession with my work and if I really get a jones for something musical she has no problem with it. (also it's a tax write off for me!). I understand the need for different guitars, what I don't understand is the need for only one amplifier. We all seem content playing through the same rig but never want to stray from that amp we lug from gig to gig. I would like to help.....please visit my face book page (Hooligan Amplifiers) and buy what remains in stock OK, that was a bit heavy handed....but my question remains. Why do we feel that we have to play through the same amp all the time? I know that some of you have several amps, but most of you just have one amp..and maybe a practice amp.

[jwebsmall]

Darwin I stopped playing guitar from 1970 until 2007.
Now I'm making up for lost time.

[Elemeno P]

I can attest to the golf club GAS. I hung out with single digit handicappers coming out of college and that 300yrd drive or shaving off your handicap was always a new driver/set away.

From a newby perspective......Can't say I've taken time off from playing guitar, but it's been a seed in my heart to play guitar for a good 25 years (career, family, computer games, etc). Finally buckled down and focused. I was lucky enough to have a local guitar instructor steer me in the G&L direction. "Tribby" for now, but will upgrade.

Right now my GAS is more visual than tonal. I'm sure that will change as I progress, but the F-100 Baco showed us still haunts me.

Lunch: Leftover Stew from our church Fall Festival this weekend.

[Kit]

My musical instrument experience is somewhat similar to yours. I started playing guitar around 1964. For whatever reason I stopped playing from around 1987 to around 1997. In 1997 when my son was about a year old I got the urge to start playing again, fortunately I had not sold the 4 guitars that I had from 1987. And I have been playing ever since.

Around 1981 I bought a analog synthesizer, I think it was a Prophet 6. Synth music was big then and I wanted to teach myself how to play. I never did manage anything useful on the keyboard. I eventually chuck the keyboard into the trash bin.

I don't really have GAS like many of you do. I have 10 guitars and bass, but I'm not constantly looking for the next object of desire. I am quite happy with playing what I have.

Kit

[Philby]

I had a 5 year lay off from guitar between 1996 and 2001 after most of my gear was stolen. The replacement insurance gear didn't have the same mojo and I couldn't figure out how to use the new recording equipment. I credit my Tribute ASAT Special with getting me back into guitar again. It was the instrument that made me want to play. I've added a few more instruments since then but feel like all my bases are now covered. The current herd keeps me busy enough with string changes and setups so I don't really have GAS for any more guitars. In fact I haven't been near a guitar shop for 2 months - a record for me.

I collect old synths and synth modules from pawn shops and second hand shops. I like the dated, cheesy sounds they have which give them a certain personality lacking in modern synthesizers and soft synths. My first one was a Yamaha DX7 MkII, then a Roland SH-32, and the most recent one was a Yamaha TG-33. I haven't paid much more than $100 for any of them.

[Boogie Bill]

Last year I bought a cheap, used Casio WK-200, just to have around the house; and then a couple of months ago, Miss Leslie comes home with a WK-210 that she got from a garage sale for $25! So we have an abundance of keyboards. I have no ability in playing piano, but I can build chords.

I really need to get a copy of Jaystrings' book on GAS.

I really struggle with it sometimes. Actually, with 49 guitars...there's really no struggle at all! LOL! I give!

Seriously, I'd have 200 if I could. I have trouble resisting a "good deal", and even more trouble with wanting to buy a guitar that needs to be "rescued". (I have TWO Les Paul Supremes that I bought REALLY, REALLY cheap becasue they had headstock repairs.) Trouble with that is, by the time I put the TLC into them, I can't let them go. In fact, that may the problem for me--once I buy one, it is very, very hard to let it go. I probably should sell my ASAT Deluxe, but it's hard to do.

And when I find a guitar that I really like, I want multiples. I know I'd rather have many Legacys to play, than have a Gretsch, Tele, and a Teisco that I would rarely play, if ever.

One donut is never enough; neither is one Dorito! (And now you know why I am the size of a jumbo jet!) It must be genetic. (Or a really BAD habit!) A character flaw, for certain.

But as bad habits go, this is a pretty benign one. My family is not suffering because of my GAS. I have no other vices: I don't ski or golf or fish or hunt or have a boat or a hot car; I'm pretty absorbed with music.

And I justify part of it by saying, "Well, I don't have one in that color.) Or, "I need a back-up for this guitar."

And since 1965 or so, I have never been far away from my guitar for very long. Two or three days and I start having withdrawal symptoms. Seriously!

Hey, music is my life!

Bill

[louis cyfer]

i never took much time off from guitar, but never really had too much gas until recently. i had 3-4 electrics an acoustic and a classical. a few amps. i bought 10 guitars, 5 amps and about 20 pedals (all boutiques) just in the last year. mostly opportunistic purchases though. great deals on everything, some really silly ones on some. i guess it is a buyers market. i have not sold anything.

[KenC]

I had to give up playing for the most part when I was sailing ships from '87-'93. The first thing I did when I got out of the Navy was to retrieve my Fender Jazz from my Mother's basement.

I suffered from constant GAS starting in the late 90s (when I really started playing seriously again). It was pretty much all window shopping until last fall, though. I did spend about ten of those years wanting an upright bass more than anything else, until my wife finally gave in. She always complained that besides the expense, we wouldn't have room in our house. When I finally brought one home, she decided it looked so good that it needed to be the centerpiece of a room.

The GAS floodgates opened last year, when I had to move into a sublet basement apartment during a job change. I picked up a used ASAT Classic to get me through the lonely evenings sitting in somebody else's basement while my family was 500 miles away. The ASAT Classic led to quantum jumps in my playing ability, so I figured a Legacy would let me explore and grow in Strat-type music. Since every new purchase wasn't noticed the moment I walked through the door, the collection grew quickly. I think the impetus at first was that I could finally indulge my GAS after so long. It wasn't causing any sort of financial hardship for my family, and it was certainly less destructive than spending the money on eating out every night, drinking, or whatever else I could find to kill time. So, I started buying every Leo-era G&L that showed up at my local guitar shop. Part of it was the realization that I could finally buy a good quality guitar, and part was the realization that when the family moved out my wife would object to any new purchases. Another big part was realizing that some of the instruments that popped up were getting pretty uncommon and might not come around again for a long time.

After the family settled out here, I told my wife I would slow down to maybe 1-2 guitars per year at most, but that I reserved the right to jump on a short list of guitars I might not find again (e.g., an original SC-2, an '86 ASAT, or a G-200). She agreed. I figured that would leave me some wiggle room in case of extreme GAS. Of course, I've since stumbled across an '82 SC-2 and an '86 ASAT. She kept her word, so I will try to restrain myself until at least January.

I do have some bouts of amp acquisition syndrome, but they don't trigger the compulsion like guitars do. The current count is seven, which cover the bases for upright bass (with a backup), electric bass, guitar, and a couple that are tucked neatly away to appreciate in value. I've only bought two of these in the past year. My Blues Junior is perfect for playing in my living room, and my JC-120 Jazz Chorus had enough volume to drown out the sound of my housemates and their girlfriends late at night back at the apartment (the girlfriends tended, on average, to be younger than my G&Ls - this helped make my wife comprehend just how harmless a little bit of GAS is in the grand scheme of mid-life!).

I used to go through a lot of pedal acquisition syndrome, especially when I could afford pedals but not guitars. Since I've been playing G&Ls through a decent amp, I haven't felt the desire to buy or use pedals nearly as much. I know this is a common experience for a lot of G&LDP members. I've noticed my eight year old (who has guitars on the brain) looking at them with increasing curiosity, so I'm sure most of them will be headed his way in the next could of years. He's not getting the Moogerfoogers until my will is read, though...

Ken

[Lefty]

i never took much time off from guitar, but never really had too much gas until recently. i had 3-4 electrics an acoustic and a classical. a few amps. i bought 10 guitars, 5 amps and about 20 pedals (all boutiques) just in the last year. mostly opportunistic purchases though. great deals on everything, some really silly ones on some. i guess it is a buyers market. i have not sold anything.

You definitely have GAS now!!

But if you got good deals on them, it's hard to pass up.

[jwebsmall]

If one more guitar
could have made me star
I would have been to the top
and back.

While my hope runs deep
like the goal I seek
heaven knows it's not
the guitars that I lack.

And if one more quip
could land me a hit
I'd be more than willing
to give them all back.

[darwinohm]

We have some pretty darn good stories on how people have ended up with multiple guitars today and confessions of GAS. I especially relate to Kens story, what a great way to spend time away from the family. I started shopping in 2006. They have all been opportunistic buys except for a couple of new G&Ls. I remember telling Ginny that I would probably get a couple this year. So far it is 12. I have traded for most of them and am trying to keep the number at less than 45. I have owned over 70 in the last 5 years and given some to my kids. I also had some imports early on but now own all American guitars and the 2 Japanese Gretsches. This may seem crazy to many of you but we have them for art value in addition to the playing value of many of them. I truly love guitars and if purchased wisely, they will hold their value. This must be confession time and has happened on this board before. I have many different examples of colors and woods. I will be adding more G&Ls but there is a Grosh, a Ron Kirn, and some other fine builds on the horizion. This helps keep a guy my age going and at this point in my life I have a couple extra bucks now and then to spend and it is pretty harmless compared to other vices I could have. The only problem is that when I look at them, touch and feel, it sometimes makes me have a cold one at night. I think I will have a cold one!-- Darwin

[darwinohm]

Careful on promises John,
Be careful what you say
for as of today
you could be a poet
and don't know it!-- Darwin

[cmguitar]

Gosh Lefty,
It sounds like you are writing my life history. Ex-wife, I had 2 Gibsons ect...
I quit playing from 1983 to 1996.
In 1996 I decided to buy a Mexi fat Strat and a Squire amp.
My lovely wife who we have been married for 15 years now. She pushed me into playing again.
The last 14-15 years or so I have ended up with 9 guitars and 3 amps and a pedal board. I have now as electric go 2 G&L, USA Fender, a old Kalamazoo built Gibson J-50 also my 90's Ibanez 335 and import pawn shop specials. So I have more now than I would have ever dreamed of 30 years ago.
I know one of my problems is work inhibits practice. Things I used to play I only remember parts also I developed some bad playing habits. At times i sounded great other times I sound like I just started
I went and got help.Some instruction to get me back in gear again. It worked.

Chet

[Ledergeist]

Lefty,
Nice start to the week. Cakewalk and Win '98, heheheh, now you know why I switched to Macs. I don't think I've gone more than 4-6 weeks without playing some kind of geet since I got my first electric in 1975.
For me anyway, I do like to take semi-regular breaks from playing. Not only to shed any bad habits, but to gain further insights as to what I'm doing. Having other stuff around like synths, keys, drums, bass etc...
helps to keep things fresh IMHO....
Right now I'm GASsing to find the missing parts for my Bass, the one guitar I've managed to hang onto over the years...



BW

[jwebsmall]

Careful on promises John,
Be careful what you say
for as of today
you could be a poet
and don't know it!-- Darwin

LOL.

I would take the royalty check and order new guitars.

There is no cure for GAS unless you OD. And that may take
1000+ guitars.

[CGT]

I always had guitars around starting about 1983 but I only started playing seriously (i.e. several hours a week) about 2 years ago. I've had SAS (Stuff Acquisition Syndrome) over many different things over the years. I have something like 15 fountain pens and I have a pantry full of Moleskine notebooks that I bought at deep discount a couple of years back. For years my Gibson Sonex 180 Deluxe languished. I thought of it as a cheap bolt-on experiment and left it in a corner. Also I didn't have a proper amp as power supply on my Traynor blew, taking all the tubes with it. Somewhere along the line, I started acquiring cheap guitars, never paying more than a $100 a pop. In the midst of that, I paid to get the Sonex properly set up. That changed everything. Suddenly, it was a playable blues machine and I started getting serious. Last December, I acquired a Korean Squier Bullet Stratocaster with a Maple neck and I realized that what I had been trying to acquire these past few years was a combination of a Fender scale, a maple neck and single coil pickups. Three weeks later, I walked to a store around the corner and found a mint condition 2005 Legacy for $500. How could I resist?

As a colleague once pointed out, my acquisition syndrome revolves around music and writing, my two passions in life and that's all right by me. There's something to be said for indulging ones desire for objects that allow one to create rather than merely conferring status. Am I still GASsing? A couple of days ago I tried a Les Paul Studio. (To see if it was superior to my Sonex. It wasn't.) And I'm thinking of taking my case queen Yamaha 12-string acoustic to a swap this weekend to see if I can trade it for a Mexican Telecaster. I don't consider myself a collector and I probably never will be. Guitars are tools for creating music. I don't care if they're pristine or battered and I don't need seven different guitars in different colours. That said, I would consider getting a second Legacy as a backup if I started gigging on a serious basis.

[Lefty]

Lefty,
Nice start to the week. Cakewalk and Win '98, heheheh, now you know why I switched to Macs. I don't think I've gone more than 4-6 weeks without playing some kind of geet since I got my first electric in 1975.
For me anyway, I do like to take semi-regular breaks from playing. Not only to shed any bad habits, but to gain further insights as to what I'm doing. Having other stuff around like synths, keys, drums, bass etc...
helps to keep things fresh IMHO....
Right now I'm GASsing to find the missing parts for my Bass, the one guitar I've managed to hang onto over the years...


BW

The bass pictured looks complete - what's maissing?

[Ledergeist]

Lefty,
It's missing the wooden finger rest that goes on the pickguard, and also a stamped metal thingy that goes over the strings... a hand rest I suppose...

[willross]

I still dig synths. I'm now running "old school" Beatnik Editor pro thru my Parker. Thomas Dolby Robertson gave me an unreleased version with many of his favorite instruments back in 2002 when he owned HeadSpace. <-- Funny! Great work, Lefty!!!!!


Cheers,

Will

[Lefty]

Lefty,
It's missing the wooden finger rest that goes on the pickguard, and also a stamped metal thingy that goes over the strings... a hand rest I suppose...

I don't much about Basses. - but yes I now see that it is missing the "ashtray" type of bridge cover. That's probably going to be hard to find?