Lunch Report, 2/10/12 Friday Winding Down

[zombywoof]

It has been a great week and thank all of you who chimed in.

Lunch Today - ham and cheese on wheatberry bread, vegetable soup (its cold out there today) and a fruit cup (which my daughter graciously allowed me to take from her stash).

G&L Thoughts

First I want to give G&L credit for changing the way I looked at guitars. Before I snagged my first G&L you could not have convinced me to even think about a guitar with ceramic pickups. I kept envisioning these sterile sounding things while saying to myself, - a little 60 cycle hum never hurt anybody. You could only hear it when your were not playing anyway. So I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks.

Speaking of pickups, today I would really like to hear especially from you guys who play Z pickup G&Ls. These split pickup single coils Leo developed for the P Bass really interest me. How do they sound compared to the candy bar MFDs?

Also, just curious does anybody out there use something from Leo's three companies - say an ASAT Special plugged into a Fender Reverb tank hooked up to a Music Man amp or something. Anybody got a Fender, Music Man, and G&L guitar or bass?

Post Pics If You Got 'Em

Musical Hodgepodge - Part 1

Fill in the blank:

In a perfect world ___________would have sold more records than Eddie Van Halen.

I gotta go with a guy I mentioned the other day - Dave Lindley. Sit back and take a listen.

http://youtu.be/TAbbgSKUZB4

Musical Hodgepode - Part 2:

OK, anyone who knows me even a little had to know this was coming - It Be Acoustic Day!!!

So who else divides their time between an acoustic and electric? Any problems shifting between the two? Do you change your style when playing one or the other?

I still spend most of time with an acoustic in my hands. I play the same stuff on acoustic as I do on electric and play both with my fingers.

Not going to post pics of them all but here are a few:

First up - a 1946-1947 Gibson LG-2.


Because man does not live by wood alone - a 1932 National Duolian.


Next a ca. 1933 May-Bell (made by Slingerland) all mahogany round soundhole archtop


Here is one of my project guitars - a 1955-1956 Epiphone flat top - one of the last made before Gibson snapped the company up.


When I feel the need to plug in - I slap one of these across the soundhole - a DeArmond 210 pickup.


Whew, this tired me out so Woof is going to sign off for a bit.

Thanks to the great folks at G&L who have provided us with the lumber that has helped us get through the the bad times and made the good times even better over the years; to Craig and others who keep the forum up and running for giving us a place to share; and all of you for doing the sharing.

[kakerlak]

Fun week, ZW!

I too have always been interested in the Z coils. I admit to never coming across one in person, but I wondered if, aside from being able to select a bass coil from one unit and treble coil from a different one, if they actually sounded much different than S-500 pickups. I figure the coil size is proabably about the same, based on the covers...

Other Leo stuff: I had a 70s Stingray guitar for a while. It was pretty neat, but very heavy. Have had various Fender amps and still have a DF Super Reverb that I love. Also own a '64 Jazzmaster, last of the first round of "Leo era" products, lol.

There are probably thousands of bands that "should have been big," but I'm going to have to go with my dad's if for no other reason than I'd be pretty well off as a byproduct, lol.

[youtube]4HWuTSZh3io[/youtube]

Bio here

Truth be told, they were sufficiently talented and on the cusp of being successful, but I guess the stars never quite aligned.

I own, but rarely play, an acoustic. Mine's one of those mid 90s Peaveys made by Landola in Finland, really a great playing and sounding guitar. I also have a really fancy Goya classical that's in pieces and might someday make it to the luthier to be put together again...

[darwinohm]

ZW, thanks for the entertainment this week.

ZW asks:

Speaking of pickups, today I would really like to hear especially from you guys who play Z pickup G&Ls. These split pickup single coils Leo developed for the P Bass really interest me. How do they sound compared to the candy bar MFDs?

I love Z coils. They do not have the twang and the bite but are very sweet and a color of their own. Very pleasing.

Also, just curious does anybody out there use something from Leo's three companies - say an ASAT Special plugged into a Fender Reverb tank hooked up to a Music Man amp or something. Anybody got a Fender, Music Man, and G&L guitar or bass?

Yes to the above, both basses and 6 string.

Yes, I have acoustics. Here they are, an Adamas on the left and an Artist nylon Ovation.




Have a great day everyone.-- Darwin

[JagInTheBag]

Love the Z coils on the WR. The growl of the overwound bridge pup is tastey! It is my "go to" guitar, a very nice counterpart to the tone of the S-500.

I also have one acoustic, but don't play it much. As for who should have been more prolific than EVH- Stevie Ray Vaughn, for one, Lennie Kravitz for another. How about Frank Zappa! Imagine how different the popular music world would be!


Great week ZW. Enjoy your weekend! ~Patrick

[kakerlak]

Hey ZW, just got a chance to see your pics. I dig all 4 of those guitars! What the heck had somebody screwed onto the top of the Epi, though?

[Muleya]

Always been intrigued by the Z pickups, but have never heard them in action myself.

I wish Dann Huff had more stuff out there...at least in an easier way to get. He's all over other people's songs, but it would take some effort to track it all down. Besides, I wish he had more of his own projects out there! I like most of his work with Giant, but he's good in so many styles, an album or two like Eric Johnson does where he covers a few different styles would be great!

My acoustic is a Taylor 414CE, and while it was one of the cheaper Taylor's available at the time, it's still the most I've ever paid for a guitar! I don't play it lots, but try to play a few songs on it every week or two. It's a great guitar, I love it! Don't have any pics of it by itself, but here it is with my Les Paul and the Marshall:

[sam]

Great week Zombywoof,

I am a Z Coil fan for sure. Punch without typical single coil brightness, and the WR bridge is the baddest in the land!

Got Fender 62 tele reissues and a couple of Fender amps.

Here's my acoustic pride and joy, Martin D-41.

[timage=][/timage]

In a perfect world __Danny Gatton____would have sold more records than Eddie Van Halen.

Love Lindley as well. Saw with Jackson Browne a few times and he was amazing.

TGIF!

[zombywoof]

Hey ZW, just got a chance to see your pics. I dig all 4 of those guitars! What the heck had somebody screwed onto the top of the Epi, though?

Not for the squeamish

[zombywoof]

Love Lindley as well. Saw with Jackson Browne a few times and he was amazing.

For alot of lap steel guys the sound Lindley gets on "Running on Empty" is the Holy Grail of Tone.

[sickbutnottired]

Leo Companies
On the multiple companies. I have no music man exposure, not by choice just the way it goes. I play exclusively through SF Fenders (right now), so not FMIC 'leo era', but I love 'em--so I get 2 out of 3, guess it isn't bad?

Acoustics
I love acoustic guitar. Those four are all interesting. I only own 1, a mahogany c-15e Martin. It's a workhouse, but a titch boring. It didn't sound that great when I bought it, but it has opened up a lot over the years. I play it about 40% of my total playing time. In fact the frets are showing quit a bit of wear. I play a lot of the same stuff, but when I perform I get shy on acoustic.

Utopia
"In a perfect world jj cale would have sold more records than EVH". I know, he got paid when clapton did the great covers, but jj's playing is really tasty.

Hey ZW, just got a chance to see your pics. I dig all 4 of those guitars! What the heck had somebody screwed onto the top of the Epi, though?

I was hoping for an on-board music stand! I could use one of those to help me remember the words to the one song I know.

Darwin, the acoustics are alright, nice, but nothing like 'the wall'!

Have a great weekend, and I look forward to seeing you all around here next week.

[zapcosongs]

Great week, Thom! So glad you got drafted back into the fold!!!

Z-Coils: No experience with them whatsoever. Would love to try (ok, own) a Z-2 though.

The acoustic thing: LOVE your old acoustic guitars, zw. My have to fly in just to check them out.
Like you, I spend most of my guitar time in acoustic land. I'm actually more confident on acoustic, I write on acoustic, and since my playing time is usually late in the evening when the kids are asleep, it works in avoiding waking the children and ticking off my wife.

I gave my boy my old Yamaha FG-170 from the early 1970's. I only have one acoustic guitar. This was my wife's wedding gift to me. I tried a LOT of instruments before settling on this one. No guitar in the budget I had spoke to me quite as clearly:



On your other question, I don't have any early Fender stuff, nor have I ever touched any Musicaman gear.
I do own and enjoy a '66 Vibro Champ, and a Japanese-made reissue of the '72 Fender Thinline. Love those "Wide-range" humbuckers. But the thanks there goes to Seth Lover, which I can use to segue back to my Bluesboy and G&L. Whew! - ed

[westsideduck]

I've been temped to try the Z-coils but never got around to it, I just xcan't see any pickup taking the #1 spot from tyhose squared end MFD's on my 500.

G&L SB-2 with a Fender Bassman, Sweet tube tone. Ive got Fender and G&L guitars and a Music man amp.



I'm also an acoustic player first and foremost, I mainly played 70's era Japp guitars because that's all I could afford and I've still got a few left that I play regulary, About 10 years ago I picked up this mid 60's Fender Rosewood King, it doesn't have a booming tone but sounds good amplified and it's mainley used for lead work as it has the neck and scale lengfth of a 60's Strat .



here's a breedlove i couldn't bond with, kept it for less then two weeks.



You're gonna like this one Woof, 1930 Kel Kroydon, made by Gibson during the deoression, it's an L00 without the adjustable truss rod, The absolutely best finger pickin blues machine I've ever played.









Is that a silvertone your sportin with that national, love those old Silvers, got the bass amp too.




Nice week Woof, did you set up your trai8ns this year?

[zombywoof]

You're gonna like this one Woof, 1930 Kel Kroydon, made by Gibson during the deoression, it's an L00 without the adjustable truss rod, The absolutely best finger pickin blues machine I've ever played.

Nice week Woof, did you set up your trai8ns this year?

Lawdy you got that right - I am dripping with envy over the Kroyden. The thing about Gibson's Depression-era offbrands like the Kroyden and Kalamzoos is to cut costs they often made them with lighter bracing which resulted in a better sounding guitar than the L-1 or L-00.

Yup that is a Silvertone amp. Great amps but I swear the cabs are made of pressed cardboard or something.

I had to take my train set down when we took in our latest foster kiddo. My train room is now his bedroom. When I get around to it I will go ahead and set them up in the basement. I really miss not having them going.

Here is another cool acoustic - a mid-1930s Kay Kraft. These are what replaced the more elaborate (and expensive) "Venetian" guitars and were among the last to have the Zorzi adjustable neck. That neck was some serious Yankee Ingenuity.

[zapcosongs]

Cool.

Hey ZW, you realize that you have a PAF neck-up there, don't you? ;+) - ed

I've really learned a thing or six this week, Thom. Thanks a bunch!

[Michael-GnL-Michael]

It was an interesting week of topics Zombiewoof.

I wondered whether David Lindley sold more than Eddie Van Halen through his association with Jackson Browne, however, you would have to count Van Halen's appearance on Michael Jackson's Beat It which was out of the ballpark.

I will offer Robbie McIntosh in the perfect world scenario.


I have two G&L guitars and no other Leo instruments.

I don't have an acoustic guitar.

No Z-coil experience either.

Have a great weekend everyone!

[zapcosongs]

Hey Colin -

Just gave Space Opera a listen. WOW!

I also read most of the band's bio this evening. I cried a little tonight. - ed

[kakerlak]

Hey Colin -

Just gave Space Opera a listen. WOW!

I also read most of the band's bio this evening. I cried a little tonight. - ed

Hey Ed,
Glad you enjoyed it. Sorry for the tears.

[willross]

Pickups? I was unaware of G&L before 1998. Then I traded a US Strat and a couple bucks for an S-500. I'd like to see a Classic Custom made of walnut...

Acoustics? This "old" Fender Acoustic has a great sound. It was broken for a while, but I restored it last year:






Cheers,

Will

[louis cyfer]

sorry for the late post, my modem went down, had to replace it. here are my acoustics, a brazilian rosewood back and sides cedar top yairi classical from '77, a cheapo ovation and a taylor gs mini that sounds amazing.



i have a 57 tweed deluxe from leo plus the g&l, but nothing from music man.