Tuesday Report 03/13/12

[RampageFan]

Hello everyone thanks for the responses yesterday.

Lunch: Today’s lunch will be leftover grilled chicken, brown rice, and last but not least an orange.

Non G&L: This is still kind of G&L related. Yesterday I told you about my job. One of the things I enjoy is the interaction I have with kids. Unfortunately many kids don’t have a good home life. I use my love for music to bond with them. One of the trends I’ve noticed in the last few years is how they have discovered “our” music. A lot of kids love classic rock from the 60’s through the 80’s. When I was growing up I couldn’t care less about my parent’s music. I’ve also noticed a lot of kids who are discovering the guitar. They have a lot of resources available to them that we didn’t have. There are so many websites that have tab, it’s amazing to see how fast they can learn and progress. I have seen many 14 year olds that are simply amazing when they play. They are shocked when I’m in their home, and see their guitar and we start talking about it. My department has actually received 911 calls, kids calling in an “emergency” and asking the operator to send me. When I arrive, the “emergency” is to show me a song they’ve learned, or a new guitar they got! LOL! It makes me feel good to have this connection with them. Which leads me to the G&L topic of the day.

G&L topic of the Day: I have read a lot of debates and questions about Tribute vs. USA made G&L guitars. There’s no question about the quality of the USA made guitars. We all love and want them. But I also see the importance of having a budget line of guitars. I own a Tribute Rampage, and I am very happy with it. It’s a very well built guitar, that’s easy to play and has great tone. I commend G&L for having a high quality budget line of guitars. In my opinion, they didn’t take the easy way out and simply build a cheap guitar, with substandard wood and parts and stamp their logo on it. They truly are great guitars. With guitars like Tribute, some of the Ibanez and Fender products, it allows kids the opportunity to afford a good guitar. Otherwise, there may be fewer kids getting interested in playing.

How about you? Do you have kids that play guitar? Or have kids that love “our” music? I have two kids, 21 and 23 years old. Music is very important to both of them. My son likes newer, obscure music, while my daughter loves classic rock and raids my cd collection all the time! Any Tribute owners out there who would like to share pictures?

Hopefully I don't come across as preachy. This is a topic that is important to me.

Thanks again everyone,
Dave

[louis cyfer]

very cool. i think guitar hero ruined a lot of kids, they think real guitar should be as easy as the game. i have a 10 year old student who is soaking up guitar and progressing really well. he loves classic rock. he wanted to play because his class mate is vivian cambell's son. he got his own guitar 2 months ago, but despite my best efforts to talk him into a g&l, he picked a gibson 60's tribute. unfortunately all the websites and tabs can not substitute for real one on one physical presence instruction. immediate feedback is necessary. what i noticed that a lot of kids can really play some stuff, but developed some really bad habits because of lack of instruction, and really have to go back and relearn things especially technical, in order to be able to keep progressing and not get stuck at a certain level because of bad habits not getting fixed.
my stepson i met when he was 13 and i gave him my ibanez rg550 that i did not want anymore. he now makes a living playing in restaurants on weekends and also plays in a rock band. he is 21 now. he wants to audition for berkeley next.

since used amercan g&l's can be found as low as 500-600, i can not see the reason to buy a tribute for me. they are great though. much better than anything fender produces in that price range. a friend bought an mim strat, i told him to get g&l and he went and got a tribute s500 and is very happy.

[gitman001]

Morning Dave,

It is great reading about your influence on the kids in your area, hopefully the powers that be understand the importance of the "guitar emergency"

My girls are 5 and 3 and already in music lessons. My wife teaches piano and a program called Music For Young Children. My kids love it, hopefully one day they will want to pick up a guitar - they will have plenty to choose from!! They are very aware of music, i always have tunes on....A few weeks ago at rehearsal the band learned "Lonely Boy" by the black keys, and i had the video on at home to check it out. For some reason they really dug the song and were singing the chorus all day long. The next weekend we were at old navy and the song came on in the store - My 5 year old runs up to me and says "Oh my goodness Daddy there playing your song!" Daddy wishes!!!!

G&L

I don't own a tribute, but have played quite a few at the local dealer. I think they are really outstanding guitars and a great introduction for many into the world of G&L.

Scott

[darwinohm]

Good morning Dave. Lunch is unknown at this time but it will not be late!

It speaks for itself that kids seek you out. What a compliment! Working with young people is fun. They are open minded and creative. I have a neighbor kid (Dave ) who is graduating from college this spring. While in high school he would hang out here and test my guitars and check out the recording gear. A local radio station in the Twin Cities sponsored a Beatles contest and we videoed David doing "Blackbird" and submitted it. He won first place in the under 18 age group and won a new Rickenbacker from Willies American Guitars in St. Paul. During his senior year in high school he performed at a talent show in the school. He asked me to play bass for him. It was a stitch have a white haired dude playing bass for this talented young fellow at his high school. My daughter and grandaughters are into music. The grandaughters love to go guitar shopping with me. They also try to get me in trouble with grandma, which isn't too difficult.

I have owned a Tribute Asat Special (MIK) and it was a very nice guitar. A lady friend of ours insisted on buying it. She thought it was the most beautiful guitar she had seen. It was CAR and a looker. It had scratchy pots in it and I just replaced them a month ago. I think the quality of the Tributes is outstanding for the price and I believe it is a perfect entry level guitar for young folks. I do not believe in junk for kids to start on as it often discourages them for physical reasons. If they start on a Tribute and decide to give it up they can be resold as a decent price. I would also play a Tribute if I saw one that I really wanted in fact I have been watching a natural carve topped Asat Special for some time. You never know.-- Darwin

The ASAT Tribute is on the right.

[louis cyfer]

Morning Dave,

It is great reading about your influence on the kids in your area, hopefully the powers that be understand the importance of the "guitar emergency"

My girls are 5 and 3 and already in music lessons. My wife teaches piano and a program called Music For Young Children. My kids love it, hopefully one day they will want to pick up a guitar - they will have plenty to choose from!! They are very aware of music, i always have tunes on....A few weeks ago at rehearsal the band learned "Lonely Boy" by the black keys, and i had the video on at home to check it out. For some reason they really dug the song and were singing the chorus all day long. The next weekend we were at old navy and the song came on in the store - My 5 year old runs up to me and says "Oh my goodness Daddy there playing your song!" Daddy wishes!!!!

G&L

I don't own a tribute, but have played quite a few at the local dealer. I think they are really outstanding guitars and a great introduction for many into the world of G&L.

Scott

i think having the kids learn violin and similar instrument at that age where both fine motor control and pitch is very important can be very advantages. i am sure no one has to sell you on the benefit of having a one on one in person lesson, but have you noticed that so many people discount the benefits saying silly things like hendrix and srv didn't need no lessons.

[westsideduck]

First, in response to your question yesterday regarding the Khaler and Leo fine tuner trems, I prefer the Khaler, it has more mass for better sustain, but that could have something to do with the guitar it's on, The Leo is smoother, both stay in tune well and I just like the looks of the Khaler better. One thing they have in common is the Leo designed string locks, not a well thought out design IMO, I've had about 5 guitars with this lock set up and had to do work (they need to be bent to the radius of the neck and filed to avoid string breakage) on all of them.

It's great what you are doing with the kids!!!! Thier time is much better spent hanging out in mom and dad's garage bothering the neighbors then hanging out on the streets. My daughter doesn't play any instruments but she did rsaid my clasic rock collection when she was around 13, she's 21 now and I raid her I-Tunes collection to keep up on whats going on in today rock world.

I Agree with Louis, why buy a New Tribute for $500.00 when you can buy a used american for that price buit6 fror a kid on a tight budjet a used Tribby is trhe way to go.

gary

[Elemeno P]

I have a 6 year old that I've surrounded with drums and guitars. Hopefully he'll either take one up or be ignited down the road. I just wanted to make sure he was exposed early.

Love my Tribby. I've dabbled in a few <$200 guitars which just reinforce how well my Tribute Legacy (in avatar) is put together. I told my wife that I wanted an ASAT in the future and showed her the Tribute ASAT Deluxe Carved Top review in Premier Gutar. She tore it out and smiled.....



Hopefully this will be waiting under my birthday tree.

I know I can go get an used US ASAT, but I like things new and shiny (under 4 digits).

[gitman001]

i am sure no one has to sell you on the benefit of having a one on one in person lesson, but have you noticed that so many people discount the benefits saying silly things like hendrix and srv didn't need no lessons.

Hey Louie,

That is definitely an issue i face all the time. Most of the time it doesn't bother me, as those are the guys who usually make the worst students! What drives me crazy is when people say that they don't want lessons because it will ruin their own "style" - Oh well, at least there are still enough people that do appreciate the one on one instruction, and luckily most guys who say that are too lazy to put the years and years of time and dedication to hone the craft like SRV and hendrix did.

Scott

[glvourot]

Anytime you can get kids interested in playing music is a good thing, hats off to you. I'm with Louis on the Tribute question, I would save a little longer and get a used US G&L. Then again, the first guitar I ever bought was a brand new Takamine explorer copy that I had saved paper route money to get. I loved that guitar, I remember it seemed pretty solid but back then I didn't know much about guitars so I have no comparison.

Mine was black and a friend of mine bought the same guitar but his had blue highlights. There was a guitar teacher there named Fred who a bunch of us took lessons from. He really knew his stuff, but I remember him getting a little testy because all we wanted to learn were metal riffs. He taught me Roxanne and Message in a Bottle instead. He also said not to bother showing up if we didn't practice. We would practice, but not the stuff we were supposed too ( and who didn't know EVERYTHING when they were 15 ? ) I wish I would have kept up with it because I would have been a lot farther along .

[Elwood]

My niece is 14 and has spent a few years with the violin and cello, choir too.My Brother says she's been taking the first steps with the guitar over the last year or so and her interest doesn't seem to be waning . I have a blue Alvarez acoustic bowl back that plays easy and intonates well with light strings .It has a little more square shape to the bowlback so it doesn't do the slippery turtle thing
that ovations have when sitting.
I started guitar when I was 14, none of the guitar teachers I had ,even through college , brought up the issue of intonation. I thought for the longest time my tuning technique/ears weren't up to par.
I'll be sure she understands the fundamental physics of strings as well as all the other good stuff.

We do an annual 4th of july show in a small town nearby. One of the stages is for K-9 performances.
The middle school rock band did zep,hendrix,who,... and the kid playing lead pretty much blew the guitarist from my last band . Pretty cool .

I had a 2003 tribute S-500, indonesian ? I think I got a lemon. I won't go into details unless asked .
I've seen some tempting Tributes lately and need to get out more often to guitar stores.

Elwood

[blargfromouterspace]

Hey Dave, love the look of the white Rampage in your avatar.

I have no kids of my own, but my girlfriends 5 year old nephew always enjoys messing about with my guitars when he comes over. I encourage it. He sits there with a look of amazement on his face. When he is physically large enough I'll teach him a few things. At the moment reaching the end of the neck is simply not possible! I'm at a point now where I would like to get a couple of lessons. I've taught myself so far but need to be pointed in the right direction with western swing style comping. Playing with other people has been the best way to learn certain things (eg. when not to play, timing etc), and now to play what I want to I'm going to need some direction from a teacher.

I used to own a Tribute L-2000, it was a nicely built guitar. The only other ones I've played is Phil's Tribute ASAT - that's a great guitar. I'd have no problem owning one, but would always choose a used US made one.

[repoman]

Hi Dave,

That's great that some of the kids are connecting with you for the music, or on any level for that matter. I suspect some of them are just looking for an adult that cares. The old adage could apply here...if you saved one than it was worthwhile.

I own 1 Tribute, an SB2 that I bought new at a great close-out price. Its a great bass that easily competes with guitars costing twice the price. I've played a few other Tributes in stores and thought they all played and felt nice. I'd have no problems buying another if the right deal was available. I seriously considered a Tribute Bluesboy I tried a year of so ago.

I have a 14 yr old daughter that took clarinet lessons for a few years and voice lessons for a bit. She was actually a pretty darn good clarinet player but dropped it this year to pursue other school and after-school activities. I tried for a while to get her into guitar. Every once in a while she will pick up her acoustic and strum a few chords, but that's about it. But I'm not forcing her and I'm not complaining. She does listen to some of my music collection and I try to listen to her music.

Jeff

[KenC]

I've been very impressed with the handful of Tribbies I've tried, but I can't see buying one when I can go with an older Fullerton-built model for the same price. A lot of it is just my personal preference for the feel of older G&Ls. If I was just starting out or getting back into playing, I would go straight to a Tribby and then figure out which US-built model I would buy for a second guitar.

My sons are nine and five. The nine year old has wanted to play for as long as he can remember. I bought him a $20 ukulele when he was four, and got him started then on taking good care of it. It's survived five years now with no more than minor scratches. I gave him a MIM Fender Precision Jr. for his eighth birthday, and he's been taking it out occasionally and making sounds for the past year. I'm not pressuring him, as I know one day he will want to start learning seriously. We talk about guitars and music a lot, and are working together on reviving a mid-90s MIM DuoSonic. He takes cello lessons at school, but really wants to switch to the string bass. I just found a really good deal on a 1/4-size instrument (the smallest string bass), so he will be able to start on that next school year. That will be directly transferable to electric bass and guitar when he's ready. He has already started raiding my CD collection, and is really drawn to Sonic Youth and some other experimental music, as well as my stash of obscure 1970s dub albums.

My five year old was feeling left out, so I agreed to buy him an inexpensive kid-sized electric guitar or bass last summer. He's way too young to learn to play, but I figured it would be a good experience to learn how to take care of an instrument like my older son did with his uke. I figured on picking up a generic Oriental import for $40-50, but the salesman in my local shop suggested I buy a used instrument from them for that same price as they didn't have anything new in stock. I would post a picture if it wouldn't require waking my son up to get the guitar. Anyway, the instrument turned out to be a rare American-made product from the early 80s. It's called a D'Mini, and is basically a scaled-down Les Paul Goldtop with a single bridge pickup. I've since learned that EVH used one on stage for one of his songs, and Frank Zappa played them regularly as his health declined and he couldn't handle a full-sized instrument. My son keeps it in his room, but I watch it like a hawk to make sure it survives his childhood.

Ken

[Kit]

I wish my kids would be interested in learning guitar. They are now 18 and 15. Both were in band in middle school for a year each, one played clarinet and the other trumpet. Several years ago when they were still small in size I bought a 3/4 size electric hoping they will want to learn, but neither did. I think I may be the culprit for them never showing an interest. When I play I either play electric unplugged, or I play through headphones, so although I play my kids really have not heard me play. They have heard my recordings though, and they have seen me and the hobby band play one time at a picnic.

I don't go looking for Tributes since I very seldom look at buying another guitar. I do scan Craigslist every once in a while, but have never been severely tempted to buy one.

Kit

[RampageFan]

Louis: Good point about guitar hero! Lol! I didn’t realize you taught as well, Very cool. I can see your point about not progressing past a certain point without 1 on 1 instruction. I think that may have been what happened to me. I am self taught, and in the past few years I’ve really changed my technique. I’ve also taken the time to learn and understand scales. Now instead of just copying what I hear, I’m interested in knowing why certain things are done. It makes a lot more sense to me now. And good luck to your stepson!

Scott: Thanks for the kind words. Luckily I work for a community oriented department, so they let it slide! Great story about your 5 year old being excited about hearing “your” song!

Darwin: Thanks for responding. I appreciated your story about your neighbor. Good for you for taking the time to let him hang out with you. It’s obvious you’ve been an influence to him. And once again, you have an incredible collection!

Gary: I always like seeing your photos of your collection. You’ve had some great vintage G&L’s. And some really cool rarebirds. I like hearing from longtime G&L enthusiasts who share their knowledge of G&L. And thanks for the info about the Leo bridge. I’ve seen pictures of Rampages and Invaders with them, but I’ve yet to try one out. Sounds like your relationship with your daughter is similar to mine as far as music goes.

Elemeno P: Nice looking Legacy. And good luck with the Tribute Asat. Keep us updated. I’m sure your 6 year old will follow in your footsteps.

Glvourot: I know what you mean about your Takamine explorer. My first guitar was an Odessa Les Paul copy. And as far as I knew, it was as good as it gets!

Elwood: You bring up some good points. I never knew what intonation was until many years after I was playing. It is pretty cool when you see young kids rocking out to the classics.

Jamie: Thanks! I really did luck out when I found that Rampage. It truly was lying untouched in its case for 25 years. It was pretty much a brand new guitar. I’m the same as you when I am learning new styles. For so long I played just one type of music. In the last few years I’ve gotten into learning new styles that I never dreamed I would try. It’s almost like starting over.

Dave

[darwinohm]

Dave, I found the copy of the song that David Chen, my 16 year old neighbor videotaped and won the Rickenbacker with. This is a recording that we made in my studio one afternoon. Here it is. He played and sang this at the same time, using my Ovation VXT. I would like to share it with you folks. This is a track we did in my studio. It is not from the video tape. -- Darwin
2 Blackbirdmp3.mp3 - 3.14MB