Lunch Report Nov 18th friday

[louis cyfer]

today is cheat day. my favorite food is crepes. so i am having crepes for my meal and desert. there is a french/italian restaurant nearby that makes them exactly as i like it. i get the tritip crepes with a speacial red wine reduced sauce, but i get it with chicken breast instead of the tritip. it has mushrooms and 2 different cheeses and a bunch of other goodies. yum. for desert i get a crepe that they make for me. raspberries and white chocolate and sweet creme inside and powdered sugar on top. it's not on the menu but i just tell them it's for me and they know what to make. once a week i get to splurge. crepe is a national food in hungary, there are 24/7 crepe only fast food places. it is called palacsinta.

i have lived in 3 different countries and visited many others in my life. i don't like to travel anymore. i have had enough. but i'd like too ask you guys, where have you traveled out of country, and where would you like to? another question, what is your favorite food? any particular national cuisine? after all my travels i still prefer hungarian cuisine.

i only recently acquired my first G&L. my G&L question is, what brought you to G&L for the first time? for me it was looking for a tele, and the guy selling a tele had a few g&l asat's sitting around. after playing those, i was no longer interested in that tele and started looking for g&L's.


for next weeks lunch reporter i would like to nominate meowmix

i had fun doing the lunch reporter, and would like top thank you for the honor of the opportunity. this is a great forum here. thank you for having me.

[darwinohm]

Very interesting week Louis. It is always fun to have someone new. We always learn a lot and thank you for doing it this week!

I am sick of travel. I did emergency support for many years, had to travel in a moments notice. I have not traveled in that many countries, but the UK, Norway, Sweden,Denmark and Canada and Mexico but they do not count as they are bordering countries. Our trip to Sweden and Norway in 2006 was my last. Our passports were stolen in Stockholm and when I hit the ground in Mpls/St Paul I told Ginny this would be the last time I hit the ground in an airplane. We will see.

My first G&L was a guitar I saw on CL. A guy was looking for an ASAT or Tele and had a HSS G&L that he wanted to trade. He was convinced that he was a T guy. That git me going on G&Ls. I still wish I had it. It was a beautiful Transparent Red with the wonderfully grained Ash body. That guitar has since been sold twice on CL and I almost bought it back.

Thanks for the entertainment Louis and will catch on the next one!-- Darwin

[zapcosongs]

Yum. Crepes are great! Breakfast, lunch, dinner, whatever. I could see having a tri-crepe meal. Appetizer would be maybe something like Gouda with pear and herbs. The entree could be some savory meat and vegetables. Dessert might be another fruit with chocolate and creme.
Ahhh.....

Regarding favorite foods, I have many. For breakfast, give me a good REAL bagel, cream cheese, some smoked fish, tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, onions. Or thick French toast with hearty bacon or sausage or even scrapple. Put some scrambled eggs on the side along with some grapes and banana. Yum!

But I do have a thing for crabs, crab cakes, crab legs. Good coleslaw. Corn. Beer. Can you tell I'm hungry?

Travel: I have not traveled much, but when I was fifteen, I went to Spain with my Spanish class. We stayed on the southern coast - Costa del Sol - Torremelonos, to be precise. Took day trips to Seville, Grenada. Hopped on a hydrofoil and crossed the Gibraltar Straits and into Morocco.
I will never forget Tangiers. So many crippled children begging in the street-slums (and in the shadows of magnificent opulent castles). I asked the tour guide why there were so many kids with missing limbs. I was told that the children were disfigured purposely by their parents, so that they would be more successful beggars. I still lose sleep over this. Helps me keep my "problems" in some perspective, though....

Regarding Tributes, I still have never played one. But if half of what I've read is true (and knowing that the pickups are the same as in the USA models), I suspect that they are a great value at their price-point.

Thank you for a great (first) week, Louis. Next time you do this (and you will - ha!), consider preparing your LRs the night before and posting them in the AM before you leave the house. That way, you wouldn't leave us so hungry for our scraps for so long - your being on the West coast and all. Enjoy your weekend. - ed

[louis cyfer]

Yum. Crepes are great! Breakfast, lunch, dinner, whatever. I could see having a tri-crepe meal. Appetizer would be maybe something like Gouda with pear and herbs. The entree could be some savory meat and vegetables. Dessert might be another fruit with chocolate and creme.
Ahhh.....

Regarding favorite foods, I have many. For breakfast, give me a good REAL bagel, cream cheese, some smoked fish, tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, onions. Or thick French toast with hearty bacon or sausage or even scrapple. Put some scrambled eggs on the side along with some grapes and banana. Yum!

But I do have a thing for crabs, crab cakes, crab legs. Good coleslaw. Corn. Beer. Can you tell I'm hungry?

Travel: I have not traveled much, but when I was fifteen, I went to Spain with my Spanish class. We stayed on the southern coast - Costa del Sol - Torremelonos, to be precise. Took day trips to Seville, Grenada. Hopped on a hydrofoil and crossed the Gibraltar Straits and into Morocco.
I will never forget Tangiers. So many crippled children begging in the street-slums (and in the shadows of magnificent opulent castles). I asked the tour guide why there were so many kids with missing limbs. I was told that the children were disfigured purposely by their parents, so that they would be more successful beggars. I still lose sleep over this. Helps me keep my "problems" in some perspective, though....

Regarding Tributes, I still have never played one. But if half of what I've read is true (and knowing that the pickups are the same as in the USA models), I suspect that they are a great value at their price-point.

Thank you for a great (first) week, Louis. Next time you do this (and you will - ha!), consider preparing your LRs the night before and posting them in the AM before you leave the house. That way, you wouldn't leave us so hungry for our scraps for so long - your being on the West coast and all. Enjoy your weekend. - ed

another crepe lover. great. i can't do crabs. i don't eat any scum sucking bottom dwellers. (only date them )

that is terrible about morocco. gypsies in hungary do the same, but they steal others kids to do it to them and send them to beg.
that is a good idea about the lunch report the night before, but how will i know what i had?

[zapcosongs]

Edit button is handy. Updating in a response to others another.

Or you could do what I do: Post about something I'm hankering for instead of the usual usual - which is hardly worth reading about in my case! - ed

[Elemeno P]

Louis C....great week.

Favorite foods....a blessing or curse, my list of foods I don't like is really short. Mexican food (from authentic cooks) always reminds me of home.

I grew up on a border town to Mexico, so before all the really bad violence started (there was always violence, it's just been super-sized lately), we would jump on a bus (we took the buses with Lazy-Boy sized seats) and travel around Mexico. I'm trying to convince the wife to go to Belize. I'm also itching to go to Europe.

I started playing guitar about 3 months ago. Stopped by a local guitar shop to ask about lessons and he was G&L dealer. Drank the Kool-aide, vigilant ebay trolling and I picked up my Tribby from a dealer in Connecticut.

[Dave_P]

Great week Louis, really enjoyed all your reports!

I haven't traveled much at all, I've been up to Canada several times, down to Mexico once and to St. Thomas for a close friend's wedding. There are so many places I'd love to see, a trek through Nepal or Bhutan is high on the list.

Favorite food, I'm with ed, I have many breakfast: bacon/cheese omelet with an english muffin(grilled not toasted) with a glass of chocolate milk. I've been ordering that breakfast since I was a little kid. I mix it up every now and then with hash and eggs but it's got to be "homemade" none of that canned garbage. A good ol' fashioned roast chicken dinner would also be up there on the list. Those crepes sound delicious though, only time I've tried them was at an old girlfriends house, her grandmother made them, and I politely ate them, never felt the need to try them again. National cuisine, love polish food. My Dad's mom was polish, we go to the local festival every year, and I'm just stating to learn how to make it myself. My great aunt is the only one left with the family recipe for pierogi, my first two attempts have been edible but not quite right.

I came to G&L from the fond memory of a friend's legacy that I played 12 years earlier. I had sold all my electric guitars and took a break for several years, when it was time to buy again my first thought was legacy. The ASAT special interested me and I took a gamble, it paid off, that is one guitar that I will never sell.

Thanks again for a great week!
-Dave

[Boogie Bill]

Good posts this week.

Unfortunately, I must admit to being a couch potato. I've never been much of an athlete; the problem is my feet. They are very wide (6E) and I have extremely high arches. Tough to get shoes that fit. Add in three car wrecks, a heart problem and diabetes--and I'm not nearly as active as I used to be, or as I should be. Best results from dieting have been on the Atkins diet, but it is hard to maintain. I really appreciate the desire, dedication, focus and discipline that body-builders put into their work. I wish you success.

Going back to Monday's guitar question, I've never had an issue with any of my G&Ls, and I hope I never do. My impression is that their warranty service is not the best. I have had problems with a couple of my Martins and their service has been incredible.

As a rule, I don't modify my G&Ls. The Legacy, S-500, Comanche and Legacy Special models I have are great for me right out of the box. I do have one Legacy that the previous owner had installed Duncan Antiquity Texas Hots, I did some switching around and I added the Custom TH bridge pickup and a RW/RP middle. Sounds great, and I have some other Ants to install, but I'm lazy.

Gibsons are a different story. First thing is a set of Schaller Strap Locks. A metal jack plate is a good idea, too. It's essential to have good nut action, and I like to have the tune-o-matic bridge saddles filed to properly match the radius of the fingerboard--so they all get a trip to the luthier. Some have gotten LW Gotoh tailpieces to give them a more open, airy tone. Some have gotten new pickups, and RS tone kits. All of this depends on what a particular guitar needs. Simple stuff, but as a rule I try to not do anything irreversible. I strongly prefer to buy unmodified guitars, so that's how I feel I should leave them for the next guy.

I only modified one guitar that involve some non-reversible routing--that was my second Music Man Sabre II. I had a third pickup added, making it more strat-like; I used a second Sabre bridge pickup, so it looks totally like a factory job. And it was SO successful, a version SHOULD have come the factory just like it.

As for Wednesday's discussion about differences between Legacys, Comanches, and S-500s I'm going to be lazy and not give huge descriptions as I have in the past. Choosing between them is simple though--buy one of each! And don't forget the Legacy Special, either. If you like the tonality of humbuckers, the LS will get you there. I like to gig with a Legacy and a Legacy Special--especially since the LS can back up both my Legacy and my Les Paul--not very many guitars can do that.

Sorry, I don’t do Tributes, but they are nice guitars. I look for good deals on USA-made G&Ls.

How did I find G&L? After my divorce was final in 1990, I needed some cash and had to sell my 1960 Strat—that was worse than losing the girl! By 1993 I was playing in a band and needed a guitar with a vibrato. I was going to get an American Vintage 1962 Strat to replace mine, but the sales guy showed me the G&L Legacy and I was hooked. A few months later I found a used 6-month old S-500 in ash. Those were my first two, and I have 18 now. That’s how I found G&L, and I really can’t imagine playing anything else.

Good job on the LR, Louis—sorry I wasn’t more timely with my posts.

Bill

[Ledergeist]

Nice work this week Louis, glad you were able to keep the ball rolling....

Been lucky enough to have toured with F/i a lot in the '90's. Being in Berlin just a few weeks after the wall fell was just crazy. Gigged mainly in Germany, Belgium, Holland, and Switzerland. While I'd like to do something like that again, I'm not sure if I want to... Part of the fun over there for me was trying a lot of different foods for the first time. Nothing fights off a cold better than a 5-alarm Indian or Thai dish, trust me.

My buddy Greg turned me on to G&L back in the day. I can still remember him saying 'If you like this, you'll want a G&L' when I got the Rampage clone he put together.
Glad to say I took his advice.....

Thanks again for accepting the invite,

BW

[Michael-GnL-Michael]

Great week Louis!

This was another long day late getting home.

I have not traveled out of the USA and do not count going over the border to Tijuana Mexico. I was maybe 5 years old. I think my dad drove across the border went down one street made a U-turn and drove back across the border.

I would go to many places around the world if I could travel first class and stay in luxury hotels. Most destinations would involve art museums. The travel itself and dealing with other people traveling is an energy drain. The plane ride, being locked up in a tin can breathing recycled breath for hours and hours, doesn't appeal to me much either. I love the area I currently live and work in. I do not like to leave it. I do not even like driving into the nearest large city anymore. If there is an event I just beeline straight in and out as fast and efficiently as possible.

I like crepes but prefer the dessert types rather than the non-dessert type dishes. I like whipped cream, strawberries and powdered sugar crepes. I do not have crepes often but I do have French toast or pancakes routinely. I top this with butter and real maple syrup. My favorite dessert is tiramisu if it is done right.

Chinese food is my favorite national cuisine.

G&L... I was thinking about starting to play guitar again after a long layoff. My tastes had changed and I was interested in a Strat/Tele sound. I used to have a Les Paul. I started reading on the internet and people were recommending G&L over Fenders. I was fortunate to have a G&L dealer in town that carried USA models. One caught my attention. I went back a few times and ended up buying it.

[astutzmann]

great week Louis.

my parents were german people born in Yugoslavia. My mom was german, my grandmother (born in the same house) was hungarian and therefore I grew up with Hungarian food, crepes, chicken paprikash, goulash, etc and my dad and grandpa used to smoke hungarian sausage and meats.

My grandma used to spend all afternoon stretching the dough for strudel, either cheese or fruit strudel. Oh my, I'm hungry now and miss my oma.

I am still a freak for hot smoked hungarian sausage and there is a little place in niagara falls, ontario that makes all their food that way. YUMM Fired chunks of bacon fat, ha. Pork fat rules!!!!

I was fortunate enough to travel around the world several times and have been to most modern countries. I would love to live in New Zealand, enjoyed Australia, some parts of asia (singapore, hong kong) and really enjoy the southern Europe countries, Spain, Italy, etc.

If I were to move somewhere right now, it would be New Zealand! You haven't tasted Lamb until you eat it there!

I spent a wonderful month in Chili and Argentina and not such a great time in Sau Paulo Brazil. Nice country, just not Sau Paulo and I hear Rio can be rough as well.

Its all good. I'm not much of a seafood eater, but I love good hungarian, italian, mexican, southern BBQ and so on. I'm a carnivore and was raised on MEAT!

As for G&L, I bought a <censored word> acoustic 5 years ago and after a few weeks upgraded it. I was just starting out and I had decided to play left handed. Then I decided to get an electric and couldn't find many lefties in the stores, they either had crappy fenders $300-$400 or really expensive ones, $2500.

I didn't like the guitar teacher I had, so I researched and found a great guitar teacher and I asked him. He said that if he could afford it, he would get an american G&L. I had never heard of them. A former employee in calgary started a music store and was a dealer. So I called him and custom ordered my blues boy. Probably would have ordered it differently but not knowing better, I ordered it and 12 weeks later had my first G&L. Been hooked since.

[Philby]

Hi Louis,

Thanks for putting together a great week.

Travel is something I enjoy immensely. When the kids are a bit bigger I'd like to sell up the house and live overseas for a bit. I've been to India (twice), Bali, The Maldives, New Zealand, UK, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Austria and Switzerland. I'd like to visit Eastern and Northern Europe next. There's something about travel that expands the mind but also makes you appreciate the comforts of home. Travel has taught me that people are far more generous and willing to help than is generally portrayed on the late night news, especially if you try to meet them half way with language, food, dress etc. Some a-hole stole all my stuff in Valencia, Spain and the local police laughed when I tried to report it, but that is the only negative experience I've ever had.

As far as national cuisines go, I'm a sucker for Thai and Indian food. I also like Japanese and Italian quite a bit.

My first experience of a G&L was much the same as Louis. I was looking for a tele and the G&L ASAT Special hanging on the wall out tele'd all the other teles in the shop. It was only a lowly Tribute too, but I still spend many hours of happy twang-dom on it.

[louis cyfer]

thank you all for the kind words. i probably won't do tributes, i like the used deals on the us G&L's, but i was curious about the difference in quality. i have played some really good guitars from the far east, sometimes they are surprisingly good.

[louis cyfer]

meowmix has accepted the lunch reporter position for next week. looking forward to it. thank you.