Baptism of Fire...

[The Black Page]

Greets guys & sorry I haven't been on the last couple of months.Currently on R & R in the Philippines with the family & Afghanistan threw me a few curves the last month of rotation which shifted my focus elsewhere unfortunealty.Anyway we've all got our crosses & such & once I settle in over there will get back in the swing here again..
Seeing im back home for my first effort as lunch reporter the culinary angle will focus on this demographic.later in the year ill put my hand up again & all going well & with craig's blessing will do the rounds of the various DFAC's on base to try & paint a picture of how us lot survive in the Stan.The obvious "occupational hazards" aside we've got it pretty good all in all as ill hopefully be able to purvey down the track.

Lunch today..pancit canton,shanghai lumpia & rice,a pretty common dish over here in the PI.




G & L topic...
My G & L dream machine is currently in the factory up on blocks besides Pat's weapon of mass destruction(hope alls well bud,will email soon!).Both are Will Ray customs to spec as some of you are aware.
One thing in particular that has further endeared me to G & L's is the duality of configuration options at our disposal.purists can keep their feet firmly in the land of "heritageville",while visionaries like Will & some later factory standards have pushed the envelope to a degree to encapsulate the needs of the modern player as well.not to mention Leo himself righted a few wrongs with his now legendary template to give us some more of that elusive middle ground.
The desert island scenario is a very old motif ladies & gentlemen of the jury,but 1st day in the saddle will resurrect it again irrespective.heres the deal...
Craig has just granted you a blank cheque at the G & L factory along with the finest builders at your bidding.you are allowed one custom plank from the builder with all the trimmings.It is the ONLY guitar you will ever own to sate your muse.however the "what" you would choose is not really the crux in this instance,it's the WHY you've went the direction you have.
Some of you obviously will be able to reiterate this off hand.We're talking neck widths,radius',timber types,capping,machine heads,bridges the whole 9 yards if you can speak shop guys.if not a generic tour de force is fine.whats more important is the method behind your madness
be nice to see some submissions using the builder for those that have the time

Non G & L...
I'm only a pup on the forum having hooked up in the last year but from what I can ascertain to date the average age here appears to be around the 40 mark? Hence most of us would be perusing a bit more than our local newspapers & have varying ideologies.
Aside from music I like to appease my literary muse predominantly with military history,philosophy,psychology,computer tech & occasionally partial to a well crafted conspiracy theory providing the hyperbole's been culled to a palatable level

What subject matter do you like to read in your down time? Fiction,non fiction et al?

Again many thanks Craig for the opportunity to get to know some of the guys a little better & obviously those of you who have taken the time to read this &/or contribute.
Looking forward to your responses guys.
Batter up!

[louis cyfer]

i'll take an asat special with no pg, 3 mfd pups, highly figured light weight swamp ash, honey finish, quartersawn medium roasted #3 maple neck with maple fretboard and satin finish. ss medium jumbo frets. dfs tremolo, control plate flipped with slanted 5-way super switch. arm contour, belly cut, neck heel contour, cutaway contour. locking tuners, delron 500 cl buzz feiten nut. fully shielded with copper plate. suhr silent sc backplate. internal villex unit wired to bridge pup only. push push tone pot to activate.

reading: anything by asimov especially asimov's guide to the bible. p. howard, julian jaynes, malcolm gladwell. lots of science and philosophy.

[The Black Page]

i'll take an asat special with no pg, 3 mfd pups, highly figured light weight swamp ash, honey finish, quartersawn medium roasted #3 maple neck with maple fretboard and satin finish. ss medium jumbo frets. dfs tremolo, control plate flipped with slanted 5-way super switch. arm contour, belly cut, neck heel contour, cutaway contour. locking tuners, delron 500 cl buzz feiten nut. fully shielded with copper plate. suhr silent sc backplate. internal villex unit wired to bridge pup only. push push tone pot to activate.

reading: anything by asimov especially asimov's guide to the bible. p. howard, julian jaynes, malcolm gladwell. lots of science and philosophy.

Dayum what a beast Obviously can't whip that one up on the builder mate
What's your reasoning or justification behind that choice though Louis? A brilliant blend of esthetic plus horse power bud but does it cover all your musical bases? Is it a particular tone that's got you hooked etc?
That's where ill be probing mainly this week is the "why's" behind you guys perspectives to hopefully tap into this immense knowledge base here & absorb some of the many varying points of view.
Haven't heard buzz feitens name in ages! What's he up too these days?
Love reading science articles as well mate,nice one.

[louis cyfer]

it's tone, playability, comfort, functionality. that is what i am looking for. i think, it would be about as flexible as a guitar can be as far as covering musical bases. the aesthetic is secondary, only the ash and the finish color are aesthetic considerations.

[Greenblues]

Nice lunch. My friend's wife is from the Philippines. She made us pineapple chicken and fried spring rolls last night for our poker game. I lost all my money to her, but it was worth it for that food.

My G&L Legacy has always been versatile enough to cover nearly every style I want to play, so I'd have another one made with some enhancements like:

-Wider, fatter neck with a compound radius to accomodate chords and finger-style, and bends in the upper frets
-Semi-hollow construction so I can play it unplugged, and get more acoustic-like attack and warmth
-DFS vibrato with four Raw Vintage springs for more resistance and fatter tone
-Schaller M6 Locking Tuners for tuning stability and quick string changes
-Aluminium pickguard for less hum
-Bill Lawrence L-280/298 pickups with Q-Filter (push-pull pot on bridge) for a wide range of clean and lead voices
-Custom TBX pot for neck pickup so I can use it for jazz or blues
-Strap locks so I don't drop the thing
-Tobacco Sunburst finish because it ages well

I haven't read many books since the summer, but when I have time I'd like to read more Chuck Palahniuk, Haruki Murakami, Cormac McCarthy, Kurt Vonnegut, Philip K. Dick and Mark Twain.

[louis cyfer]

i forgot to say i want nitro finish on the body.

the q filter is similar to the villex, an inductor. i would suggest the microcoil wilde bill pups instead. i am also guessing that you mean the wilde bill l280/298.

[The Black Page]

it's tone, playability, comfort, functionality. that is what i am looking for. i think, it would be about as flexible as a guitar can be as far as covering musical bases. the aesthetic is secondary, only the ash and the finish color are aesthetic considerations.

Roger that big guy,will check out some nitro finishes to get an idea of where you're coming from.thanks.

Nice lunch. My friend's wife is from the Philippines. She made us pineapple chicken and fried spring rolls last night for our poker game. I lost all my money to her, but it was worth it for that food.

My G&L Legacy has always been versatile enough to cover nearly every style I want to play, so I'd have another one made with some enhancements like:

-Wider, fatter neck with a compound radius to accomodate chords and finger-style, and bends in the upper frets
-Semi-hollow construction so I can play it unplugged, and get more acoustic-like attack and warmth
-DFS vibrato with four Raw Vintage springs for more resistance and fatter tone
-Schaller M6 Locking Tuners for tuning stability and quick string changes
-Aluminium pickguard for less hum
-Bill Lawrence L-280/298 pickups with Q-Filter (push-pull pot on bridge) for a wide range of clean and lead voices
-Custom TBX pot for neck pickup so I can use it for jazz or blues
-Strap locks so I don't drop the thing
-Tobacco Sunburst finish because it ages well

I haven't read many books since the summer, but when I have time I'd like to read more Chuck Palahniuk, Haruki Murakami, Cormac McCarthy, Kurt Vonnegut, Philip K. Dick and Mark Twain.

Nice to make your acquaintance greenblues,awesome post man.
Regarding gambling against Philippinas i humbly advise against it,if you treasure your hard earned that is anyway
Seems we're relatively symbiotic on the plank front as I too would go a similar route as you've outlined here.
I gather you'd be on a rosewood board as well is that right mate?
Pertaining to compound radius necks I have a 9"-14" on a custom strat,& strange as it may sound actually prefer bending closer to the nut more than up the neck,especially pedal steel & double stop stuff with country & blues.i find the extra fight I get allows me to dig in a bit harder (especially with hybrid picking) & get the string/s to launch off the neck with a bit more conviction & sharper tone.saying that though I arm it with 9-46's & correct me if I'm wrong here bud but the way I'm reading your "4 spring theory" you'd like to dress your beast up in 10's?
Have a garsed ESP semi hollow for pretty much the same reason as you've stated here too.
Would like to know more about the bill Lawrence & TBX dude what's the scoop with them?
Have a Eric Clapton mid boost in the aforementioned strat as well that I've grown quite fond of & if G & L are giving similar options in a legacy it may trigger another bout of GAS
Thanks for stopping by greenblues cheers mate!

[blargfromouterspace]

Hey BP, good to see more newbies taking the LR duties

My G & L dream machine is currently in the factory up on blocks besides Pat's weapon of mass destruction....

Mine too! I wonder how many other GbL members have them on order at the moment?!?! Mine isn't my dream machine, but it is something I've wanted for a long time - an SC2. I've not seen one in the flesh before, let alone played one, so it will be interesting when it gets here.

[glvourot]

I saved this a while ago, I don't know if I would keep the matching headstock, might change it to black.


This is what I have



The SC-2 has become my favorite. It has been awhile since I have taken the S-500 out of the case. Truth be told I would take my acoustic if I could only have one guitar.

Right now I am reading "Inside the Third Reich" by Albert Speer. I am also a big Carl Sagan fan, Kurt Vonnugut, lots of military history. The list goes on....

[The Black Page]

Hey BP, good to see more newbies taking the LR duties

My G & L dream machine is currently in the factory up on blocks besides Pat's weapon of mass destruction....

Mine too! I wonder how many other GbL members have them on order at the moment?!?! Mine isn't my dream machine, but it is something I've wanted for a long time - an SC2. I've not seen one in the flesh before, let alone played one, so it will be interesting when it gets here.

G'day mate! & Cheers..how'd tamworth go blarg? If there's a thread regarding it here anywhere point me in the right direction please bro would love to read it,thanks.
As far as how many the guys have got on order over there it'd be pretty safe to say plenty mate as that's often the case more than not
Are you at liberty to talk shop with the budding acquisition blarg or you keeping it close to the chest?
Thanks for stopping in mate & hope to catch up summor through the week,cheers..

I saved this a while ago, I don't know if I would keep the matching headstock, might change it to black.


This is what I have



The SC-2 has become my favorite. It has been awhile since I have taken the S-500 out of the case. Truth be told I would take my acoustic if I could only have one guitar.

Right now I am reading "Inside the Third Reich" by Albert Speer. I am also a big Carl Sagan fan, Kurt Vonnugut, lots of military history. The list goes on....

Nice planks glvourut & thanks for stopping by bud.
Really like both them designs I'm "assuming" here sorry but at a guess the SC-2 has got that bite in the top E string that a lot of strat players envy in a tele?
So that's 2 for the SC-2 & 2 for Vonnegut.will defineatly hunt up slaughterhouse five now as I've only read Irving's book on Dresden & look summor into the SC-2.love Sagan too btw.
Again many thanks guys!

[meursault]

The SC-2 has become my favorite. It has been awhile since I have taken the S-500 out of the case. Truth be told I would take my acoustic if I could only have one guitar.

damn ! that sh** looks sharp and real cool !

[cuzwilly]

The more I play my Will Ray tribute the more I like the Z coils I do miss the PTB tone controls that I am really used to on my Nighthawk. Thinking about ordering a custom Will Ray as long as I can get a slimmer neck profile. Short fingers.

read alot of science fiction when I was younger now I read history & bio's

For lunch I had White Castle sliders mmmmmm good

[gitman001]

Hey BP thanks for stepping up to the plate!

G&L

I am very fortunate to have some fine examples of BBE era G&L's...I would take my SC-2 as well ( plus i wouldn't want anything to hold up production of all the fine guitars on order )

I'm "assuming" here sorry but at a guess the SC-2 has got that bite in the top E string that a lot of strat players envy in a tele?

Oh yeah, It has lots and lots of bite!

[meowmix]

i'll take an asat special with no pg, 3 mfd pups, highly figured light weight swamp ash, honey finish, quartersawn medium roasted #3 maple neck with maple fretboard and satin finish. ss medium jumbo frets. dfs tremolo, control plate flipped with slanted 5-way super switch. arm contour, belly cut, neck heel contour, cutaway contour. locking tuners, delron 500 cl buzz feiten nut. fully shielded with copper plate. suhr silent sc backplate. internal villex unit wired to bridge pup only. push push tone pot to activate.

No EVO Gold? I heard from internet, push-push is a great idea but breaks.

[louis cyfer]

i'll take an asat special with no pg, 3 mfd pups, highly figured light weight swamp ash, honey finish, quartersawn medium roasted #3 maple neck with maple fretboard and satin finish. ss medium jumbo frets. dfs tremolo, control plate flipped with slanted 5-way super switch. arm contour, belly cut, neck heel contour, cutaway contour. locking tuners, delron 500 cl buzz feiten nut. fully shielded with copper plate. suhr silent sc backplate. internal villex unit wired to bridge pup only. push push tone pot to activate.

No EVO Gold? I heard from internet, push-push is a great idea but breaks.

yeah, evo gold, but i went with the g&l options, as if they don't have experience installing evo gold, the first one won't come out right. i have push push on most of my guitars and i have not had one break. the only ones i saw break was where the idiot installing it soldered the ground wire to the housing of the switch, heating it up to that degree screws up the mechanism, so it can break. there is a specific ground tab on the pot to use, but some people are used to soldering to the pot casing, and in this case the switch casing is on top of the pot, so they just solder to that.

[blargfromouterspace]

G'day mate! & Cheers..how'd tamworth go blarg? If there's a thread regarding it here anywhere point me in the right direction please bro would love to read it,thanks.
As far as how many the guys have got on order over there it'd be pretty safe to say plenty mate as that's often the case more than not
Are you at liberty to talk shop with the budding acquisition blarg or you keeping it close to the chest?
Thanks for stopping in mate & hope to catch up summor through the week,cheers..

Tamworth was successful - I went through it in my most recent stint as LR, about a month ago, should all still be there. The SC2 is in shoreline gold, rosewood board, matching headstock, DFS vibrato and locking tuners. I've always loved the look of a Jazzmaster with this scheme, but the SC2 has an infinitely better bridge, more sensible wiring, is cheaper AND is a G&L so you just know it'll be good

[ribeye1974]

Swamp ash, 3 pup ptb system, maple fingerboard, locking tuners, maybe semi hollow, since electricity for my amp might be a problem on this island... and a 2nd neck, rigged up for the Bohlen-Pierce scale, for when I got bored of the octave repeating, 12 note tuning of "regular" instruments. For anyone who doesn't know, Bohlen-Pierce is a non octave repeating scale. That's right, there are no octaves, you'll never hear the same note twice... it is.... odd. I was told a Bohlen-Pierce guitar would cost me over $3000, so this deserted island scenario would be the perfect opportunity to get me one, and provide the time to learn how to play it!

As for literature, other than this forum, nothing, I can't afford books, I spend all my spare money on gear, much to my wife's chagrin. Ok ok, I read the books my kids bring home from school... I was blown away by what Horton heard.... or should I say 'who'...

[Goat]

Lunch was tortellini - Mozzarella and sundried tomatoes - with a sprinkling of Himalayan pink salt and olive oil.

I'll take Louis axe but in natural gloss with an ebony fretboard on a clear satin quartersawn neck, bone nut and standard wiring. He nailed most of what I'd want in a 'one only' axe.
I'm getting bad GAS.... pass the pepto-bismol!

For reading: ESV Study Bible, Old Testament Today (John Walton & Andrew Hill), Knowing God (J.I. Packer), Systematic Theology (Wayne Grudem), Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes (Kenneth Bailey), KODO - Ancient Ways (Kensho Furuya), Book of 5 Rings (Miyamoto Musashi), Art of War (Sun Tzu). And a few guitar mags...

Great LR. Thanks.

[darwinohm]

BP, it would be difficult for me to pick my perfect guitar. Of the 15 G&Ls that I have, there isn't a bad one in the bunch, not even one that could be considered marginal. I also had ideas on what I liked only to discover later that I preferred something else. I started out as a Strat type guy and couldn't understand why anyone would want a Tele type--until I bought one. I am a trem guy and bought that first Tele with the intent of installing a Bigsby on it. I did , now that was a perfect guitar. Then I see a G&L f-hole Asat with a Bigsby and the Tele was down the road, to the same guy who had tried to buy it two years earlier and I told him it would never be for sale. Anyway, you get the point on my idea of a perfect guitar. I am now a T type convert.

Glad you WR is closer to completion and no doubt it will be a fine one. I wish I was even close to the average age that you estimate of the people on this beard -- Darwin

[Greenblues]

I gather you'd be on a rosewood board as well is that right mate?
I'm reading your "4 spring theory" you'd like to dress your beast up in 10's?
Would like to know more about the bill Lawrence & TBX dude what's the scoop with them?

Nice to hear from you, too! Actually, I prefer the maple fingerboard. I guess I'm just used to it.
Right now I use GHS Boomers 10.5 to 48 which feel and sound PERFECT for me.

As for Bill Lawrence "Wilde" pickups, I'm using a set of Keystones which are amazing for an $85 set of pickups. They are very clear, glassy sounding pickups -- great for modern strat sounds. Also very quite for pure single coils. I hear a dry, woody, almost acoustic sound in them, though I wouldn't describe them as hot, warm or fat. However, with the right pots and caps you can get a very smooth, but complex sound. With the Legacy's PTB circuit, they sounded a bit too sharp and edgy, so I replaced all the pots with 250K and bigger caps. However I missed the bass cut knob, so I put a TBX in there wired to the neck pickup only. The TBX is actually a center-dented, dual-ganged pot with 250K on top and 1Meg on the bottom (same as the bass-cut knob.) So it cuts bass for half the rotation, and cuts treble for the other half. Soundwise, it's bit of a compromise but it gets most of the tones I would need in one guitar.

[meowmix]

For reading: ESV Study Bible, Old Testament Today (John Walton & Andrew Hill), Knowing God (J.I. Packer), Systematic Theology (Wayne Grudem), Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes (Kenneth Bailey), KODO - Ancient Ways (Kensho Furuya), Book of 5 Rings (Miyamoto Musashi), Art of War (Sun Tzu). And a few guitar mags...

ESV is the only thing I am reading right now. Best English version to date imo. Sold my Systematic Theology by Wayne. Trying to rid myself of all books and go pdf. I have a rule. If you haven't touched it in ten years, you are more than likely not going to ever touch it. Sell it!

[louis cyfer]

goat, you should really read asimov's guide to the bible.

[JagInTheBag]

There is a killer SC-2 at my local store right now,

Graphite metallic with matched headstock, vintage tint gloss neck, q-sawn with ebony board, saddle lock and locking tuners. The thing sounds divine!

~JagInTheBag

[willross]

I don't know about perfect guitar, but a double bound ASAT Deluxe semi-hollow with a toasted maple neck & ebony would maybe fit the bill...


Cheers,

Will

[KenC]

Dream G&L:

A slab SC-type body in maple, one large MFD at the bridge, single volume and tone control, SaddleLock bridge, quatersawn maple neck, 7.5" maple board...

OK, maybe not an SC-1 clone, but at least I would want the large MFD bridge running through the original SC-1 circuit to get the interplay between the tone and volume controls that I don't quite have on any of my other G&Ls. So on second thought:

- Slab SC-2 body shape, scaled down to the early 80s dimensions.
- Maple body, because they worked so well with large MFDs.
- SaddleLock bridge. The DFV is the best vibrato system I've owned, but I rarely use the whammy bar and like the extra body contact of the hardtail. It's also more convenient when I remove the strings to oil the fretboard - no need for shims or worries about dinging the finish.
- Large MFD bridge pickup running through an SC-1 circuit.
- Large MFD neck pickup with it's own volume and tone (or maybe a PTB circuit using stacked tone knobs).
- Stereo output jack.
- A neck profile like the Leo-era #2 necks, just because they're my favorites.
- Quartersawn neck, for appearance and stability.
- Black hardware.
- Serial number on the bridge, where it belongs!

I'd really have to think over the cosmetics. My all-time favorite G&L finish is Belair Green, but I'd also be inclined to go with the Salmon finish that went out on a prototype last year. Then again, selecting a body blank with lots of flame and finishing it in Honeyburst would be nice too.

Reading:

I've been plowing through all of Hunter S. Thompson's writings over the past six months or so. I finished "Generation of Swine", a collection of his newspaper columns from the 1980s, on the bus this evening. I'm not sure whether I will move on to his next book or take a break. I tend to get stuck on a single author or topic for long periods of time. Over the past twenty years I've run through all of Vonnegut's books, Tom Robbins's novels, a lot of Roman history, firsthand accounts of the Western Front in WWI, Buddhist sutras and commentaries, and generally more topics than I can recall at the moment.

Last fall and winter some issues at work required me to plunge into the scientific literature in my field. I haven't had the opportunity to do that in several years, and really enjoyed having the chance to get back into that frame of mind.

Ken

[JagInTheBag]

My idea of the perfect guitar is evolving. I am interested to see what my WR will be like once it gets here. They batch produce the neck inlays. So TheBlackPage and I will likely get ours at the same time, even though I placed my order sooner. I am excited!

[blargfromouterspace]

- Slab SC-2 body shape...

I tried to get that on the one I ordered but was told that it won't happen

[The Black Page]

The more I play my Will Ray tribute the more I like the Z coils I do miss the PTB tone controls that I am really used to on my Nighthawk. Thinking about ordering a custom Will Ray as long as I can get a slimmer neck profile. Short fingers.

Greets cuzwilly & thanks for stopping by.youre good to go on the WR with a thinner neck profile as well bud,being similarly "endowed" myself I ordered a slim C neck with my WR

Hey BP thanks for stepping up to the plate!

G&L

I am very fortunate to have some fine examples of BBE era G&L's...I would take my SC-2 as well ( plus i wouldn't want anything to hold up production of all the fine guitars on order )

I'm "assuming" here sorry but at a guess the SC-2 has got that bite in the top E string that a lot of strat players envy in a tele?

Oh yeah, It has lots and lots of bite!

Hey gitman! & thanks bro.
Here I was thinking that this thread may have turned into some form of good versus evil legacy-asat dichotomy & the SC-2 has emerged out of nowhere to steal the thunder
I figured it would grip up high with the pups & the way you guys have endorsed it.defineatly be lookin more into this plank now thanks to you guys,cheers..

[The Black Page]

Tamworth was successful - I went through it in my most recent stint as LR, about a month ago, should all still be there. The SC2 is in shoreline gold, rosewood board, matching headstock, DFS vibrato and locking tuners. I've always loved the look of a Jazzmaster with this scheme, but the SC2 has an infinitely better bridge, more sensible wiring, is cheaper AND is a G&L so you just know it'll be good

Nice finish blarg..Will check your LR's out later & get back to you mate cheers for that.hard to believe you can get a custom as opposed to a standard issue from basically the same factory with better specs & easier on the pocket.little wonder we have to wait when you weigh it up like that.
Sounds like the porn section will be heaving here In a few months!

Swamp ash, 3 pup ptb system, maple fingerboard, locking tuners, maybe semi hollow, since electricity for my amp might be a problem on this island... and a 2nd neck, rigged up for the Bohlen-Pierce scale, for when I got bored of the octave repeating, 12 note tuning of "regular" instruments. For anyone who doesn't know, Bohlen-Pierce is a non octave repeating scale. That's right, there are no octaves, you'll never hear the same note twice... it is.... odd. I was told a Bohlen-Pierce guitar would cost me over $3000, so this deserted island scenario would be the perfect opportunity to get me one, and provide the time to learn how to play it!

Do you have any entry level URL's regarding this bohlen-pierce scale handy bro? Due to my adoration of shawn lane, vai,WR etc I've messed a bit with exotic modes but only on 12 tone rows Thanks in advance bud,cheers..

[ribeye1974]

The Bohlen-Piece Wikipedia page is accurate, nobodies messed with the facts on it yet. Basically, the ending note of the scale is 3 times the frequency, not double, and the gap in between is divided by 13. Oh what the heck, here's the wiki page, takes 1 second to grab for ya: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohlen%E2% ... erce_scale

A buddy of mine since childhood is one of the foremost experts in Bohlen-Pierce compositions (granted, there are that many of them out there), and he once sent me the entire Bohlen-Pierce symposium website link, if you wanted to hear what it sounds like. I sold the computer that had the link on it, and didn't copy it over, I know "booooo".. but I could easily drop him a line and recover it. He seemed to think that if I made some sort of endorsement deal with the B-P guitar maker I could get the guitar for free, but then I'd be committed to composing, performing and attending conferences/symposiums and the whole 9 yards, and I can't commit to that, it would be too much on my plate. Anywho, I'll send you the link to their symposium database after I get it back, if you wish.

[The Black Page]

I'll take Louis axe but in natural gloss with an ebony fretboard on a clear satin quartersawn neck, bone nut and standard wiring. He nailed most of what I'd want in a 'one only' axe.
I'm getting bad GAS.... pass the pepto-bismol!

For reading: ESV Study Bible, Old Testament Today (John Walton & Andrew Hill), Knowing God (J.I. Packer), Systematic Theology (Wayne Grudem), Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes (Kenneth Bailey), KODO - Ancient Ways (Kensho Furuya), Book of 5 Rings (Miyamoto Musashi), Art of War (Sun Tzu). And a few guitar mags...

Great LR. Thanks.

Hey mate! & thanks...I think the last post I did before being sidetracked was during your lunch reports goat,was thoroughly enjoying them at the time as well.
Yeah Louis didn't leave much off the plate mate

Regarding theological doctrines the juries still out to a degree but have found pearls of wisdom in all belief systems texts.buddhist philosophy in particular.

BP, it would be difficult for me to pick my perfect guitar. Of the 15 G&Ls that I have, there isn't a bad one in the bunch, not even one that could be considered marginal. I also had ideas on what I liked only to discover later that I preferred something else. I started out as a Strat type guy and couldn't understand why anyone would want a Tele type--until I bought one. I am a trem guy and bought that first Tele with the intent of installing a Bigsby on it. I did , now that was a perfect guitar. Then I see a G&L f-hole Asat with a Bigsby and the Tele was down the road, to the same guy who had tried to buy it two years earlier and I told him it would never be for sale. Anyway, you get the point on my idea of a perfect guitar. I am now a T type convert.

Glad you WR is closer to completion and no doubt it will be a fine one. I wish I was even close to the average age that you estimate of the people on this beard -- Darwin

Hey Darwin! Hope alls well bud & good to catch up again.
I'm with you here big guy as most of us here would be I imagine regarding the elusive "perfect guitar". That's been the underlying theme this end the last 2 days,that being what concessions are you prepared to make when it comes to the age old adage of you can't have your cake & eat it too.
I was a bigsby fan many moons ago as well after seeing neil young with his famous LP the few I've been lucky enough to try have not stayed in real well though none were fitted by luthiers of the calibre out G & L way.
Regarding your vintage mate as they say its better to be a has been then a never was and many of us here look on with both admiration and a little envy at FIFTEEN G & L's and an obviously well earned retirement.
Thanks on the WR too bud,chat soon.cheers..

I don't know about perfect guitar, but a double bound ASAT Deluxe semi-hollow with a toasted maple neck & ebony would maybe fit the bill...


Cheers,

Will

Hey will & thanks for stopping by mate.im with you on an ebony neck for a desert island scenario.theyre defineatly my favorite boards to get around on.there is a trade off sonically though as both rosewood & maple bring some food to the table.

[The Black Page]

Dream G&L:

A slab SC-type body in maple, one large MFD at the bridge, single volume and tone control, SaddleLock bridge, quatersawn maple neck, 7.5" maple board...

OK, maybe not an SC-1 clone, but at least I would want the large MFD bridge running through the original SC-1 circuit to get the interplay between the tone and volume controls that I don't quite have on any of my other G&Ls. So on second thought:

- Slab SC-2 body shape, scaled down to the early 80s dimensions.
- Maple body, because they worked so well with large MFDs.
- SaddleLock bridge. The DFV is the best vibrato system I've owned, but I rarely use the whammy bar and like the extra body contact of the hardtail. It's also more convenient when I remove the strings to oil the fretboard - no need for shims or worries about dinging the finish.
- Large MFD bridge pickup running through an SC-1 circuit.
- Large MFD neck pickup with it's own volume and tone (or maybe a PTB circuit using stacked tone knobs).
- Stereo output jack.
- A neck profile like the Leo-era #2 necks, just because they're my favorites.
- Quartersawn neck, for appearance and stability.
- Black hardware.
- Serial number on the bridge, where it belongs!

I'd really have to think over the cosmetics. My all-time favorite G&L finish is Belair Green, but I'd also be inclined to go with the Salmon finish that went out on a prototype last year. Then again, selecting a body blank with lots of flame and finishing it in Honeyburst would be nice too.

Reading:

I've been plowing through all of Hunter S. Thompson's writings over the past six months or so. I finished "Generation of Swine", a collection of his newspaper columns from the 1980s, on the bus this evening. I'm not sure whether I will move on to his next book or take a break. I tend to get stuck on a single author or topic for long periods of time. Over the past twenty years I've run through all of Vonnegut's books, Tom Robbins's novels, a lot of Roman history, firsthand accounts of the Western Front in WWI, Buddhist sutras and commentaries, and generally more topics than I can recall at the moment.

Last fall and winter some issues at work required me to plunge into the scientific literature in my field. I haven't had the opportunity to do that in several years, and really enjoyed having the chance to get back into that frame of mind.

Ken

Dayum ken that is some serious shop talk dude
Love the belair green finish & a hunter s Thompson fan too.
Cheers mate.

My idea of the perfect guitar is evolving. I am interested to see what my WR will be like once it gets here. They batch produce the neck inlays. So TheBlackPage and I will likely get ours at the same time, even though I placed my order sooner. I am excited!

X2 partner I think the perfect guitar in a subjective light is always evolving as the individual does as a musician pat.pretty sure most of us would & will answer this differently as the years roll by.defineatly the case for me anyway.

Faced with a desert island scenario where I stand now as a player,combined with my infancy of all things G & L & armed with a blank cheque & the builder would probably head this way..





The obvious concessions are in the tone,namely taking the playability of an ebony deck & the overall versatility of a strat.with that kipper I could return serve quite handily with metal,high end fusion,funk,rock,jazz etc.gotta take one on the chin regarding country & blues to a degree but providing she's plugged into a boogie or similar in conjunction with say an AxeFX could still throw a few punches with bad intentions.
A nice option would be the dual fulcrum but I've never used one, so unsure if you can spring it right so she won't buckle under the duress of contrary motion bends yet still let you shimmer chords & dive bomb with her.
It's a tough nut to crack eh

[KenC]

- Slab SC-2 body shape...

I tried to get that on the one I ordered but was told that it won't happen

Jamie,

I've only had one current SC-2 in my hands, and that was before I found my original SC-1 and SC-2 (but after years of playing an early slab-bodied SB-1). When I played it, I remember feeling like the body was...I'm not sure how to put it, but it just felt like a full-size G&L body. Except for the shape, it might as well have been an ASAT or an S-500. I'm not knocking it, but it felt really large compared to what I was expecting. Now that I have some real playing time on a pair of 1982 SC's, I'd probably compare the difference in feel between old and new SC-2s to the difference between a Duo Sonic and a Jazzmaster. Both are wonderful guitars, but you can really feel that there's a lot more wood there with a Jazzmaster. For me, a big part of the SC (and SB) vibe is that scaled-down, ultra light weight maple body.

Ken

[JagInTheBag]

Ken,

You bring up a some interesting observations. I guess I am going to have to bring my jag and the skyhawk over the the store and line it up "Nut to Nut" with the Sc-2 and see how they size up!

[KenC]

Ken,

You bring up a some interesting observations. I guess I am going to have to bring my jag and the skyhawk over the the store and line it up "Nut to Nut" with the Sc-2 and see how they size up!

The SC-1 has been my go-to for the last couple of days. Since it's right here on the stand, I just pulled out a '64-'65 Duo Sonic body that I have waiting for a project and lined them up. The SC-1 is actually a bit smaller than the Duo Sonic - about 1/4" narrower at the widest point, 1/2" shorter lengthwise to the end of the neck pocket, and quite a bit shorter on the horns and narrower in the waist.

Now I just need the LE-2's modern SC body for comparison!

Ken

ps - SC-1 taking a turn on the guitar stand, most of a vintage Duo Sonic in the closet, and thinking about a new LE-2...when did this happen??? I used to think I'd live happily ever after with my old Jazz Bass and a beater Epiphone Genesis, but then I just had to go and pick up that G&L hanging on the shop's wall...

[blargfromouterspace]

I used to think I'd live happily ever after with my old Jazz Bass and a beater Epiphone Genesis, but then I just had to go and pick up that G&L hanging on the shop's wall...

I'm pretty sure that G&L use a proprietary mixture of nicotine and crack in their finishes.

[Boogie Bill]

Is there electricity on this island? LOL!

I'm easy, I guess. I'd be happy with any Legacy body...Legacy, Legacy Special, S-500 or Comanche. Standard factory specs are fine, and as long as the guitar is esthetically pleasing to me I'm good.

I read a lot of military history. I like fiction, spy thrillers and crime novels. I love Cussler, Lee Child, Vince Flynn, Clancy, John Sandford, Brad Thor, Baldacci, Patterson, etal. I'm re-reading some of my old John D. McDonald Travis McGee novels....love 'em!

Bill