Is it lunch already - Tuesday 7/27/2010?

[Kit]

Lunch, or something better

As per usual I have packed some leftover for lunch. Instead of describing my actual boring lunch I'll tell you something good I had while on the cruise a few weeks ago.

On the ship there was a food counter where they have different types of seafood items during lunch, one item is seared Ahi on watermelon. If you don't like sushi, this may be the end of the story for you, but if you like sushi, read on. Seared Ahi is a piece of Ahi 3/4 of an inch thick, about the size of a quarter, the outside edge of which is seared, I guess on a hot grill, while the inside is still raw. The Ahi is then put on top of a small cube of watermelon, and the resutlt is heaven. It was so good I had some for lunch 2 times, and I'm still thinking about it now though weeks have passed.

Travel Picture

Why this picture? Why not?




My Instruments



I had stopped playing guitar altogether from 1986 to 1996. I don't know what prompted me to start picking up my guitars and playing again in 1997 when my son was about a year old, but I'm glad I did.

It was around that time when I bought the Godin ST-IV as GAS soon followed after I started playing again. I had played some Godins in local music stores and thought they were very nicely made instruments, and then I ran across this guitar advertised online from a private individual. I bought it sight unseen, as this was the time before digital photography was popular and the internet allows you to easily exchange images. The guitar turned out to be light weight, had a really great neck, perfectly set up to play, and it sounded quite good. It is so easy to play that it still gets played frequently. It was also my first guitar with locking tuners. I remember I had to email the seller to ask him how they worked since I may mess them up otherwise.



In 1999 I was lurking on the old GbL board while the discussion was going on with the specification of the G&L LE. Eventually the LE went on sale and I remember that the first 20 or so went in about 48 hours. I had a serious pang of GAS and jumped in to get #22 out of 25. I still have it and still enjoy playing it. Like I mentioned before I tend to practice unplugged, with this being a semi-hollow I can hear it better unplugged.


Leo's Innovation

Every once in a while I would think about Leo Fender's contribution to the world of modern music, and I wonder what would be considered his most significant innovation. I like to hear your opinion.

For me, I think the electric bass may have made the biggest impact on modern music. Electric guitar had been invented prior to Leo putting his own formula to the instrument, but, far as I know, electric bass was something new. I remember reading how George Fullerton described having to wind their own bass strings to test out their first bass prototypes. It is hard for me to imagine modern music without the electric bass holding down the rhythm. And soon after the electric bass became popular innovators in the playing of the instrument began to show the world how this instrument can impact the music we hear.

I recently watched the DVD "Standing In The Shadow Of Motown," and the name James Jamerson frequently came up. I have heard that James Jamerson is the genius on bass, but when I was young listening to Motown the bass parts don't come through like it can in the amplifiers of the last 20, 30 years. Yesterday I did a quick search on youtube and found a couple of videos that demonstrated to me the crazy skills of Mr. Jamerson. I wonder whether somebody has done a remix enhancing the bass in some of these tracks because I can now hear the bass perfectly. And what magic it is in these bass lines.


You have to watch this with James Jamerson in action with Marvin Gaye

[youtube]Y9KC7uhMY9s[/youtube]

[youtube]9pYux5-d1Es[/youtube]

Kit

[zombywoof]

Oh man, I love the Funk Brothers. But your right, it does seem the first time you could really hear Jamerson's bass was when CDs came out.

I hear ya about stashing the guitar under the bed for a few years.

I did it it around 1981. I started gigging in 1966 and somewhere along the way it all just stopped being fun. I was probably just tired and needed a break. The folks in the band all got along fine and the band was on its last legs anyway so I stuck it out till everyone was ready to put it to bed. I was finally coaxed back out in the 1990s down in Mississippi by a friend who was putting together a string band. This thing had a real fluid lineup (it varied depending on who wanted to play that particular day), was as loose as it gets, and played all kinds of music. It took me a bit to get back up to snuff but music became fun again.

Leo's greatest innovation - hard to argue with the electric bass. But then there is the Tele. Perfect marriage of form and function. Everything you need and nothing you don't. Possibly the worlds most perfect electric guitar.

But what I also love about Leo's particular brand of genius is that his instruments were pretty much shop project guitars. I figure Leo thought when the neck wore out you would just replace it but dang, it is great to have a guitar that you can just go ahead and pull apart and put it back together, making any changes your little heart desires without being a rocket scientist.

I have never played a Godin but that one of yours is a real eye catcher.

[darwinohm]

Kit, I have some time today and I have been pondering todays lunch report. Nice post yesterday too but today really got me thinking. I started gigging in 1960 and took a break in 1965 and did not return to playing until 2000. I often wish I had not taken a break but it was a hard, unhealthy life style back then unless you became rich. Like many of you I had a long break. For some reason I now enjoy it much more and I believe that I have potential too be a much better musician now than I had back then. Can't explain that but maybe wisdom is a factor??

Leo has to be known for his radical change in how guitars were built and the Precision Bass was an innovation. But what kind of an amplifier could hold up to a P Bass? This is where I think Leo excelled. It was his understanding of electronics and in the 60 s I was a Gibson guy. I played a Gibson Bass but It was through a 1962 Fender Bassman. Every one seemed to be using Fender Amps. I can also tell you that there were many electric bass players that were playing through ragged or blown speakers. Leo solved that problem when he started with the JBL s in the Showman and some Bass amps in the early to mid 60 s. For you later bloomers in life you cannot imagine the evolution that has taken place in electronics. In the 70 s if you wanted power, it was solid state. I was trained on vacuum tube circuit design and solid state was indeed the thing. Lots of power and lighter weight with reliability that was unheard of. It also gave a near perfect amplification of tone which many labeled as sterile. This is also how some view digital versus analog today. Tubes do color tone and are warmer as we say. I still like tube amps but I use solid state amps for bass. So it is my opinion that Leo was on top of the electronic industry when it came to amps and also guitar pickups. Guitar designs haven't changed all that much in the last 50 years other than the manufacturing process. Leo was the true engineer.

You have some neat guitars Kit. It is really interesting to see the different guitars that the people on this board use. Keep the reports coming!!! Darwin.

[Boogie Bill]

Nice guitars, Kit. We are definitely going to have to get together again.

We've gone for sushi twice in the last week, and I'd be happy to go again. Great food for hot weather, when I want a light and refreshing meal.

Leo had so many great inventions, it's hard to know where to start. Certainly, the electric bass guitar made life a lot easier for bassists who no longer had to carry those big bass fiddles around. And defintely, the Fender amplifiers were a huge improvement over anything else in that period. And it's also true that the ability to quickly repair and adjust the necks on these guitars was another huge benefit to players.

Don't forget though, that Leo designed much of the tooling used to make his guitars. Not just an inventer, or tinkerer; but he really is a manufacturing genius, too. I think of him as the Henry Ford of the guitar business. And think about the changes that occurred in American industry in World War II as the country came together to produce the massive amounts of weaponry that defeated the Axis Powers. Not only did American industry create many weapons that were technologically superior, but the production numbers are staggering. With the post-war consumerism of the late '40 to early '50s, Leo became the right guy, in the right place, with the right ideas--and the know-how to make it all happen.

I think Leo's real legacy is not so much his guitars, amps, production techniques or even his tooling. From guitars, to amps to production to the SOUND; his legacy is his massive influence in the music industry. Inventions, innovations, inspirations--that influence every corner of the music business--and it continues to this day, nearly 20 years after his death. And there is no foreseeable end to that influence.

Bill

[guitar_ed]

Ah, the age old question: What is Leo's REAL legacy? Several have been mentioned: Inventing the bass guitar (he didn't*), his amps, and a few other things.

To ME, his legacy was proving: 1) There was a market for solid body electric guitars, and 2) That they could be built profitably at a price that people were willing to pay.

From what I remember, and the details are a bit hazy, Leo was third person/company to try & build solid body electric guitars. He was the first to succeed.

Leo knew guitar players who could benefit from a solid body guitar, he listened to their comments, and in the Strat he created a piece of manufacturing genius. And it was the 1950s. Things were changing and Leo was in the right place, at the right time, and he grabbed ahold of the opportunity.

And he was a genius. IMHO


*Rock & Roll Archaeologist, by Peter Blecha. ppg: 175-178. While Leo was not the first person to invent the bass guitar, I personally believe he created his bass guitar not knowing about the previous Audivox work. Leo has never struck me as "that kind of guy" who would knowingly steal from other people.