Thursday the 29th of November

[blargfromouterspace]

Again, thanks for the responses and votes in the poll yesterday. Looks like the option of a flight case is a popular one, and I think it would be smart considering the amount of stuff being sold over the internet – I reckon it would reduce the incidence of guitar breakages by freight handlers significantly.

We had a stinking hot day today, we hit 39C (102F). Its going to be a hot night too. Its times like these I wish we had AC rather than the two $12 fans.

Tonights dinner was a BBQ – what better for a hot night? A BBQ, IMO, is cooked using coals or wood - NO GAS ALLOWED! We did corn-on-the-cob, chicken wings in my own marinade (a lot Chinese cooking wine, ginger, honey and soy sauce) asparagus spears, and a new thing for me, asado – a Chilean friend told me about this cut of beef and I got hold of some at the local markets. Its beef ribs, but sliced across the bone rather than along it, bone in of course. It will now be a permanent fixture on the BBQ menu at my place. What a fantastic cut of meat, and dirt-cheap too – we picked up a kg for less than $5. We washed it down with a bottle of French Rose. I’ve never been keen on rose, both for the taste and the fact that its often made with the rotten red grapes (I’ve worked in wineries, trust me its not a myth – and they’re proper rotten too), but its kind of fashionable right now so I thought I’d give it another go – I still don’t like it.
Got a favourite cut of meat to cook on the BBQ? Lets hear your recipe too

Whilst in Singapore I picked up a cheap but accurate electronic scale for the main purpose of weighing my guitars, and the results are very interesting. The lightest one I have is a solid ash ’97 Classic at 7.4lbs, followed by my semi-hollow ash ‘09 BB at 7.84lbs, the Korina Jr at 8.15lbs and finally the ’08 Classic S at 8.4lbs. I’m very surprised that the alder bodied Classic S, with arm and beer-gut contours, weighs significantly more than the Korina Jr as the Jr feels heavier. I can only imagine how heavy the BB would be if it had been a solid body made from the same wood! The fact that it wasn’t used for a solid body suggests, I believe, that G&L must take the weights of the wood planks into account when constructing instruments. I wonder where the experts at the factory stand on the light vs heavy sounds better argument? I like all my guitars and don’t really have an opinion either way.
Have you weighed your guitars? Any surprising results?

On the topic of weight lets talk heavy metal. You’ve been recruited, possibly against your will, into a heavy metal band. You get to choose the guitar – what do you pick?
Me?


Got any favourite metal bands? I'm pretty keen on Mastodon and Opeth, when the mood takes me. I admit that it isn't all that often anymore, but the occasional rock out needs to happen

[youtube]aSSLXMzxxP8[/youtube]

[Miles Smiles]

You’ve been recruited, possibly against your will, into a heavy metal band. You get to choose the guitar – what do you pick?

A Rampage of course, as there no other do exist.

The weight question: Of course to specify the wished weight exactly wouldn't be possible, but maybe there could be an optional maximum weight, you pay a fee for, but which is guaranteed then.

[helle-man]

Regarding guitar weight, about 80% of all professional guitarists that I know prefer lighter guitars. They just seem more resonate and toneful.

Interestingly enough, it's almost impossible to find them anymore except by chance.

I've always felt G&L (as well as other manufacturers) should weigh their wood and set aside lighter bodies for those requesting them.

My 2¢
WR

[darwinohm]

Jamie, you are having the type of heat we had this summer. I hate oppressive heat.

I love to BBQ. I would have loved to been there for dinner last night but I would have enjoyed with a few cold ones. My favorite is a large pork loin covered with Porketta seasoning on the grill. I believe the seasoning is a Northern Minnesota creation and I buy it in 10 LB lots. It is great and we obviously use it a lot.

I have also been surprised by the weight of some of my guitars and I do believe the heaviest G&Ls are Alder. I had an Alder Bluesboy which is the heaviest that I have owned. Alder Fenders seem to be consistently light but my G&Ls vary a bit. I thought my SC-2 was light. Now I discover it is one of the heavier of the guitars. The F hole chambered ASATS that I have are all light. The Equatorial Mahogany is so light that if you lift it at the neck heel, the guitar feels balanced. I am going to weigh my guitars sometime this winter and will log them all. I will post the results if anyone is interested. I would like to see G&L market a weight limit at a slight upcharge. I suspect that weight doesn't influence tone that much.

I had a heavy metal guitar (V-Body) and I am happy to report that I now have that out of my system. First of all, there isn't any heavy metal that I care to play and a Floys Rose is a deal breaker for me especially with the lock at the top of the neck. Yes, I am too old! Walk into the local Guitar Center and all you hear is punks chugging away. That works to my advantage as I don't hang around long.-- Darwin

[meowmix]

Does adding a F-hole in the G&L guitar makes it lighter?
I do see how metal flake adds weight. Stainless Steel frets and DFS vibrato too.
What is the lightest finish? Almost naked?
And for the fret board, is all maple the lightest?
For the S-500, Delux or not?

If I decide to get another guitar made, I might go the lightest route.

Here is a titanium block used for the S-500.

[willross]

What do you pick?

I'd consider an Invader, but would like a flatter radius. I'll hold that judgement 'till after playing one, though. Otherwise, maybe a J Frog Glock 24 Model, 25" Scale... Or a Parker.

Got any favourite metal bands?

Iron Maiden, Dio, Slayer, Testament, Judas Priest, others...


Cheers,

Will

[blargfromouterspace]

Miles - The price idea is a good one, I'm sure a LOT of people would go for it.

WR - Good to hear from you on the weight thing. I've often wondered - as a G&L endorsee, do you get to hand-pick which ones you like?

Darwin - You would have been most welcome last night, shame you're so far away! I'll try that pork loin soon, its a great cut of meat. Porchetta is sold here as an Italian cold-cut, I'm sure I can get my hands on the seasoning. I'd really like to play the equatorial mahogany ASAT. I'm surprised again that your alder bodied instruments are heaviest.

Meow - an f-hole is a good sign that the guitar is semi-hollow and hence probably lighter. However, my semi-hollow is heavier than one of my solids, so nothings certain.

Will - Judas Priest are a favourite of mine too. Great live show, even when I saw them in '08

[Philby]

Hi Jamie. Great week so far. Sorry I haven't been able to participate more fully but we have visitors staying with us at home, and visitors from head office at work all week.

I like light guitars and would pay extra to guarantee an instrument in the range of ~ 7lbs or slightly less. My 3 lightest guitars are the '06 Legacy in my avatar (~7lbs) , a Tribby ASAT semi-hollow (mid 6's) and a chambered Gibson LP studio (low 7's). Although some of my heavier axes are very playable and sound perfectly fine, the light ones are a more enjoyable playing experience.

I'm not a big consumer of lamb, but my wife has been buying lamb backstrap from a local butcher marinated in the Greek style with yoghurt, rosemary and a few other spices. Cooked medium/rare on the barbeque, then sliced and tossed through a salad, it goes down a treat on a hot evening with a good dry beer or wine.

I'm not much into metal (except for Spinal Tap), but I used to admire Charvel San Dimas guitars back in my yoof.

[louis cyfer]

i'd still play an asat or s style guitar for metal. i played in plenty of metal bands, and kept going back to the strat, just plain sounded better. i like iron maiden, dio, saxon,
judas priest, pantera, testament, overkill, anthrax, helloween, accept, and a bunch more.

here are some songs.

[youtube]8p2QhyryunM[/youtube]

[youtube]ZP_ML8YmIj4[/youtube]

[blargfromouterspace]

Phil - that Legacy was a great buy. There's a very similar one on ebay right now for a very similar price that has been tempting me, but I'm determined to hold out.... Lamb backstrap gets eaten quite often at our household, but I've never gone the yoghurt marinade route. I'll definitely give that a go, cheers

[Aussie]

Hi Jamie
Now we're cookin' - BBQs and Heavy Metal!

metal Guitars - While I suppose Scheckter, BC Rich and their ilk might be popular nominees I've generally been happy with Ibanez for metal.

Metal Bands - I still listen to a lot of the old school hard rock and heavy metal bands mentioned in a few of the posts above. From the more recent periods the melodic hard rock bands like Disturbed and the dual guitar work of bands like Avenged Sevenfold get airtime when I'm in the mood. I've also developed a bit of a thing for oriental metal bands like Ego Fall from China who include a lot of their own traditional music and throat singing into their material and the earlier works of Girugamesh from Japan.
cheers, Robbie
[youtube]B8y6l3xSzp0[/youtube]

[Brock]

I voted "yes" because I like options, but in reality I don't count because I may never buy another bass guitar in my lifetime. I like the ones I have (and G&Ls are about half the total count).

[blargfromouterspace]

Hi Jamie
Now we're cookin' - BBQs and Heavy Metal!
[youtube]B8y6l3xSzp0[/youtube]

I didn't know you were into metal, Robbie - that traditional instrument sound works really well. I'm 99% certain I've heard that opening 'bleating goat' sound on a Deicide album. And that golden-robot lion image is fantastic

Have you heard these guys? They're Japanese heavy noise and the vocals, when they're there, are in a made up language.
[youtube]28Xscfeu4T4[/youtube]

[louis cyfer]

Phil - that Legacy was a great buy. There's a very similar one on ebay right now for a very similar price that has been tempting me, but I'm determined to hold out.... Lamb backstrap gets eaten quite often at our household, but I've never gone the yoghurt marinade route. I'll definitely give that a go, cheers

Louis - One of the songs on the album sleeve is called 'Third Reich'. I'm going to avoid watching that video until I know for sure that they're NOT some neo-Nazi band. I have no time for music with a political message, especially when its from the extreme right.

it may be political, but it is not from the right. it's the opposite actually, anti neo nazi.

btw, the singer on these is th fiirst singer of metallica, when they were still in norwalk, and before dave mustain. he was also in a band ruthless, slayer used to open for them back in the day.

[youtube]3vayIWhWGcQ[/youtube]

[youtube]pDEdh_RoTic[/youtube]

[youtube]O8BNhEmf-r4[/youtube]

[blargfromouterspace]

Thanks for clearing that up Louis - I'm sorry, but I'm sure you understand my reservations. Theres a guy around these parts who often posts musician wanted ads for his white supremacist/neo-nazi bands I gave both bands a listen - definitely got a fantastic rawness to it - killer

[Aussie]

I didn't know you were into metal

The more correct statement is that I'm into music! My personal music collection includes music from every genre you can imagine and I keep looking for more. Must be a genetic thing - my father was a classical violinist turned rock'n'roll guitarist in the '50's - my 22 year old son's mp3 player includes everything from Frank Sinatra's Somewhere Beyond the Sea to Lamb of God.[/quote]

[Have you heard these guys? They're Japanese heavy noise and the vocals, when they're there, are in a made up language.

Cool. Hadn't heard them before. Drom some quick research it seems like they;ve had a few incarnations, all with that prog/freeform/fusion/ jazzy feel. I'll certainly give them more of a listen, thanks. When you mentioned the made up language I immediately thought of the 70's French Band Magma, and on listening to Ruin I can see a few more parallel's ....
If you have a spare three quarters of an hour ....
[youtube]61cIieQOdac[/youtube]
cheers, Robbie

[KenC]

Got a favourite cut of meat to cook on the BBQ? Lets hear your recipe too

I'm originally from the coast of South Carolina, where BBQ is somewhere between an art and a religion. BBQ down there is a pork shoulder, which has spent the better part of a day in a "smoke pit". One of the hard-set rules is that the smoking wood needs to be from a tree that grows nuts. Where I was from that meant pecan, but farther inland people used hickory. The meat was never cooked with a sauce or marinade. BBQ was always served on white bread buns. I always put vinegar on it, but some people used a mustard sauce. Any sort of tomato-based sauce was considered heresy. The usual side dishes were rice, okra, sweet potatoes, and banana pudding.

Have you weighed your guitars? Any surprising results?

I keep meaning to buy a scale. I can only guess at this point, but I would say the 'hog basses and S-500, and the maple ASATs, have to be over ten pounds. I wouldn't be surprised if the SC-1 and Sc-2 were under seven pounds.

You’ve been recruited, possibly against your will, into a heavy metal band. You get to choose the guitar – what do you pick?

I'll play bass:



If I play a guitar, it'll have to be a 'Hawk:

Got any favourite metal bands?

Can't say that I do, although I have a couple of Sunn O))) CDs and do like some of their stuff.

Ken