Lunch Report 8-1-16 the Return

[sam]

Howdy campers! Let’s see if I can entertain for a quick Monday Lunch Report with guitars, gully’s and GAS…..

First though, lunch will be a small bag of Cheez-its, a cheeseburger left over from the weekend grill and a glass of water. Nothing exciting but playing catch up after a couple crazy weeks.

A little about myself for those who have not heard my ramblings in the past. I live in a van down by the river, south of the Mason Dixon line, and my days are spent in sales and marketing. Fortunately (and unfortunately sometimes) I travel quite a bit so many guitar shops get visited when possible. Ya never know what you’ll find. 

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G&L topic
Originally a Telecaster fan but got the G&L bug in the mid to late 80’s and forked over the cash in 92 for an ASAT Classic Signature. My first G&L sighting was an SC2 at shop in Indiana then an ASAT in San Francisco and knew I would have one someday. Not sure if it was the feel of the 7.5 neck or the cool sound of the MFD’s but Leo had made changes I totally dug. The ASAT became my guitar of choice soon after, and somewhat addictive. When and what drew you to G&L? What is yer favorite model?

Here is my favorite (right now) good ol' Will Ray signature.


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Non G&L topic

Anybody go on vacation this summer? Our family went to Alaska and I must say that is some beautiful land up there! No cruise, a drive and see 10 days. Anchorage to Seward to Anchorage to Denali to Anchorage. We hiked a ton and saw all the animals you would hope to see. Here are a few gratuitous pics.

Bear outside the bus in Denali

Moose near our cabin

Glacier from day cruise boat

Iditarod sled dog training ride

Parasailer from Flattop MTN in Anchorage (story to follow)


This guys came climbing up the mountain with blood running from his head and we went to see what happened and how we could help. Apparently a rock had fallen from the mountain and hit him on the head. Fortunately my daughter had packed a first aid kit and we patched him up with bandages and a wrap around his head. He had a back pack on and proceeded to pull out a para sail and simply jumped off the mountain! you can't make up this stuff

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What song are you working on these days? (trouble posting videos, arrrgggghh - hey I am the poster child for computer illituracee)
Mr. Duane Eddy his versions of Ghost Riders in the Sky and Rebel Rouser are on my hit list.

Look forward to replies!

[KenC]

No lunch for me today. I'm using that couple of spare minutes to enjoy the return of the Lunch Report. Thanks for stepping up, Sam!

When and what drew you to G&L? What is yer favorite model?

I've struggled with back pain on and off since my time in the Navy. Back in the late '90s I was jamming regularly with a couple of groups of friends, and really feeling the weight of my old Fender hybrid hanging over my shoulder.

In 1999 I received a $500 bonus at work, and headed to my local shop in Portland ME to see if they had any basses that my back could tolerate better than my Fender. They were a G&L dealer and had talked the brand up to me before, but new ones were way out of my price range. That day I noticed an '83 SB-1 that had the finish and headstock decal stripped, but was a featherweight compared to my Fender. I took it home that day and never looked back. My 13 y/o is taking a break from saxophone this summer, and using that SB-1 to learn bass on.

My favorite model is a tough question, as I've been fortunate enough to experience most of the Leo-era models and a couple of post-Leo ones since that first encounter with the SB-1. The main contenders, off the top of my head, would be: an SC-1; either style of Leo-era SC-2; an SC-3 from about '87 (with contours, but no pickguard); or, an ASAT III. Ask me again next week, and the answers may be different. For basses, I'm especially partial to the Interceptor and Lynx (both amazingly comfortable bodies), and love my fretless L-2000s.

What song are you working on these days?

On guitar, Brian Wilson by Barenaked Ladies. We saw them in concert a couple of weeks ago, and this song blew me away. I had heard it more times than I can count before that show, but hearing it live really resonated with me. I've also been working on That Look You Give That Guy by the Eels, as it's the song my son picked to learn bass on. No time for links right now, but I'll try to get them up later.

Ken

[Kit]

Nice to see we're bringing back Lunch Report. Thank you, Sam, for taking the first baton.

In the last year and a half the hobby band I was in turned into a gigging band because we have four people who work and play together very nicely. We have average almost a gig a month, and we just played 2 out of the last 3 weekends. We try to add new songs (new to us) often so I've had to learn quite a few songs over the last 10 months or so.

Sometimes, though, I'd hear a song on the radio that motivates me to learn something that's not on our playlist. A recent example is the song "You Get What You Give" by the New Radicals. I've been familiar with the song ever since it first came out over 15 years ago, and have always liked it but never attempted to learn it. A week ago I did.

At first I had a pretty hard time figuring out the chords, so I decided to learn the bassline first because that usually is a clue to the chord progression. There I found something interesting. The first 2 chords are A and Gadd9, but the bass notes are D and C which are the 4-note in each of those chords. The only other song that I know (a bit) that has this combination is a sequence in the Steely Dan song "Don't Take Me Alive," and I've always liked how that sounded. I am guessing this may be a fairly common thing in jazz, but I know so little about jazz that I don't know the answer. In any case I've pretty much figured out the song and it is a fun song to play. In case you don't know the song I'm talking about:

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DL7-CKirWZE[/video]

Kit

[WitSok]

Thanks Sam!

I think this is the first time I've participated in lunch reports.  I'm pretty excited about their return as I recall some interesting stories coming out of these.  Lunch today was a ham sandwich, a 1.5 oz bag of chips, and some grape a cherry tomatoes from my garden.  So glad to be having a "normal" summer again - should have a bumper crop of tomatoes!

So a bit about myself as it has been a while since I did my introduction.  Started to actually play guitar when I turned 40.  Something I always wanted to do, but never got around to it.  I did have a guitar that I bought when I was in high school, but it just sat in its case in the closet - rarely ever took it out.  When I turned 39, I decided to purge items I wasn't using so I donated my guitar and practice amp to Goodwill.  I year later when my oldest daughter was 7, she decided she wanted to learn to play.  I don't think it had anything to do with me having a guitar previously, as should would have rarely seen with it and I could even play anyways.  So her and I started to learn together, she at 7 and me a 40.  Been playing with my church's praise bands for about five years.  The Chicago area has been home now for 22 years.  Other interests include homebrewing (been brewing for 24 years), White Sox baseball (another year of disappointment), music, gardening, Iowa State football and basketball, and camping.

I discovered G&L while shopping for a guitar for my daughter.  I have two shops near me (I could walk to both of them) that carry G&L:  Music Source and Great Lake Music.  I previously was more interested in Les Pauls and acoustic guitars - never really found a Fender that felt right.  So I saw these G&Ls, and was surprised how comfortable and good they felt to play.  Not what I expected since they looked like Fender knock offs to me.  So I started asking questions of friends that I knew that played, started reading up on G&L and learned that they are really good guitars with a great history.  From this discovery, I became particularly interested in the Jumbo MFD pickups.  So I set out to find a good deal on an ASAT Special.  Picked up an used Tribute ASAT Special Deluxe on eBay and it quickly it became my #1 (though I only had two guitars at the time).  Tone wise, I would say that Tribute ASAT Special Deluxe is the winner.  But style and feel, my GbL LE-2 is the clear winner.  A SC-2 is probably my ideal combination of tone and style..
My family of G&Ls consists of:  Tribute ASAT Special Deluxe, GbL LE-2, Tribute JB-2, ASAT Classic S (really great tone from this one too), and '85 SC-3 (old school cool!).

It has been a really busy summer, the family has had something going on most every week. But we did manage one family vacation at the beginning of summer.  We spent four days on Grand Bahama.  Did some snorkeling, a dolphin experience, did some hiking at one of the nature preserves, and time at the beach and in the pool.  The breeze coming off the ocean really made it really quite comfortable.  I'd say it is a good place for a lazy vacation.  Still hope to take the family for quick camping trip before Labor day.

Most of my playing time now is working out the songs that on the play list for the Sundays that I'm schedule to serve.  When not practicing those, I'll either put on some music or the radio and just try to play along.  A couple that stick out recently are Bob Marley's Redemption Song and 4 Non-Blondes' What's Up.

Cheers,
Dan

[guitar_ed]

Hi All,

Good to the lunch report/break back

My only vacation this summer was to Florida, to visit my in-laws. They live in an active retirement community called The Villages, about an hour north of Orlando, in the middle of Mormon cattle country. We were there for all 3 bits of bad to hit the Orlando area. But no where near us.

What got me into G&L was my guitar teacher had an ASAT Classic S, which I loved. I still don't have a Classic S, but I have a number of other guitars. My fave new guitar is a bright yellow Fallout. My fave older guitar is a 3 bolt ASAT 3, in blue burst.

These days I am working on Lap Steel in C6 tuning. Quite the challenge for me.

Later,

edg

[sam]

thanks for the replies,

Ken, I'm with you on the Brian Wilson song, haven't seen them but want to. It is so hard to pick a favorite.

Kit, glad to hear the band is rocking away, I recall when you started that journey. I know the band name but don't know the New Radicals music. Anything that sounds like Steely Dan is alright by me, so better go listen to them.

Dan, now that you have dipped your toe in the Lunch Report we expect many long replies! Yer G&L harem sounds like an excellent mix. Grand Bahama and Bob Marley sounds like a good summer theme! Don't worry, Chicago baseball will be back.

Ed, my in-laws have friends in the Villages and they seem to love it. Bright yellow guitars rule to me. That goes perfect with the Fallout body style. Lap Steel does sound like the big challenge, let us know how it goes.

[repoman]

Sam,

I don't drop in on the GbL forum as much these days. But it just so happens I dropped in today and see a return of the lunch report. What good timing!

Lunch for me today was black beans and rice mixed into a real nice mango salsa I made a couple of days ago. Tasty!
That Alaska vacation looks great. Our family did 2 weeks at the beach on Hatteras Island on the Outer Banks in NC. Great beaches at a quite fishing town. We're leaving in a couple of days for a short visit to see family in RI and NH.

My intro to G&L guitars was from a salesman at a small shop many years ago. I had been shopping for a couple of weeks and didn't see anything that grabbed me. The salesman showed me his Broadcaster and a couple of G&Ls they had in stock. I honestly don't remember what models they had, but they were all S-shaped. I do know they didn't have any T-shaped guitars in stock so I took a chance and ordered an ASAT special similar to the salesman's Broadcaster. Still have and love that Asat.

Jeff

[Sprinter 92]

G&L topic
When and what drew you to G&L? What is yer favorite model?

I was first introduced to G&L when I went to work for Bass & Treble Music in 1982. My favorite model is the Asat.

Non G&L topic
Anybody go on vacation this summer?

Vacation is two weeks away and I'm ready for it! I'm going to the Albert City Threshermen show in Albert City, Iowa. On the way to Albert City, I'll stop at the Farmall Land Museum in Avoca, Iowa. On the way home I'm going to stop in Villisca, Iowa and tour the Ax Murder House.

What song are you working on these days?

I'm not working on any songs. I haven't spent much time with my guitars lately.

[yowhatsshakin]

Howdy Sam,

Great initiative to resurrect this ol' tradition!

When and what drew you to G&L? What is yer favorite model?

A guy by the name of Ron Stoehr ran The Zobrist here in downtown Seattle when I visited that store in 1998, wife in tow. There was a gorgeous Clear Orange ASAT Classic hanging there and Ron convinced me to at least give it a try. What a guitar it was! I didn't get that particular guitar though because it was gone when I wanted to buy it a month later. But it led to me buying a Legacy Special (first G&L), again at Ron's prodding, and then a "custom" ordered Butterscotch Blonde ASAT Classic. The rest is history as they say. Here we are some 18 years later with many, many more G&L and particularly Broadcaster/ASAT guitars in the collection.

Anybody go on vacation this summer?

Just a couple of days here and there. My wife and I want to go to New Zealand next late winter, their late summer. So we're saving vacation days for that.

- Jos

[sam]

Jeff the repoman lives! Sounds you guys are haunting the east coast this summer for sure. Glad to hear the ASAT is still around, but I think your new acoustic gem is the cats meow!

Sprinter, hate to hear yer G&L collection has flown the coop. I recall seeing them posted and was tempted but unable at the time. The engine substitute sounds like it could be just as addictive. My favorite Iowa trip was to Dyersville to the Field of Dreams. Met Bill Kinsella, author of the book Shoeless Joe the movie was based on. Super nice guy. I think the land and farm has been sold off now.

Jos oh Jos, the man of a thousand ASAT's Hard to think you started off with a Legacy Special. New Zealand will be a memorable trip for sure.

[sam]

Thanks to all who shared lunch with me today, those who posted and also those who just peeked in

While the open mic is going, I'm sure others can provide more in depth topics and enlightening arpeggios, so jump on in whenever ya feel inclined.

[Katefan]

Hiya Sam,

Cheers for stepping up today. Wow - nice pics of your Alaskan vacation. Have been to Anchorage & Wasilla way back in the day - Summer of '85, fresh out of high school. Some wild times those…. not so much the same kind of wild life tho

Most old timer's here know my story - Buying a salmon pink '85 Rampage for $139 out of the LIttle Nickel paper in 1994 which smoked my '64 Strat and '66 Tele.
I had first seen G&L's in person in 1990 when a young couple opened a music store down the road from where I was working in Renton, WA called Center Stage Music. Don the owner was trying to sell me on them but I had recently caught the swap meet/ pawn shop bug so I wasn't keen on paying big $ or into buying new guitars. I do remember them looking Fab.
The night I snagged said Rampage my girlfriend and I had just seen the Pretenders at the Temple Theatre in Tacoma. After the show I saw the tour bus lined up next to the back stage door so I swung by there ended up hanging out with Martin Chambers for the better part of an hour. Chrissie came up a bit later and I got her autographed + offered her some Hendrix T-shirts made by Jimi's brother Leon should we make it up to Vancouver, BC where the were finishing off the tour.
She put us on the guest list for the last show a few days later…. Before heading to the Commodore Ballroom the night of the show, I found a guitar shop on Granville Ave that was a G&L dealer. They had a few early 90's S-500's which were pretty sweet.
Still tho it took another 5 or 6 years for me to make the switch-over. What cinched the deal was finding (2) '90 ASAT Sigs around the time I joined this forum in late '99 as well as noticing that early 80''s F-100 had the same vibe and mojo (+ nitro finishes) as pre-CBS Fenders. Since then other than a few Peaveys, an '82 Smith Strat and more recently a Music Man Sabre 1, I've stuck strictly to Leo-era G&L's.
A favourite - that is tough. Char's been #1 for a long time…. sound-wise she's probably the best of the bunch but busking for hours at at time has me more partial to lighter weight guitars these days. The MM is very happening and has been logging the most hours as of late. Has the Leo Factor In Spades & a very old school vibe about it.
For looks, sound, neck profile, weight and coolness factor tho I'd say this one takes the cake -



Song - just about got this one down...




Jos - Sweet as choice Bro - Good on ya

Hey - a big shout out & Thank you to Casey for speaking his mind & injecting some life back into this forum.

Cheers,
KF

[john o]

Cool thread! Thx, Sam for reviving it - must have been some good stuff around here in "the old days."
Nice pics from the vaca, too. Definitely want to see a moose in the wild some day. I've spent some time on the appalachian trail and have bonded with mother nature.
I learned piano and brass instruments when i was little, and dad had a drum kit so i learned that too, playin to "Guess Who" records. The Beatles' music got me interested in guitar, mom had a little Kay guitar and I started on that at 14. Got a tele custom, then my Les Paul...I started listening to umphrey's mcgee in 2007, and i noticed Jake's s-500, loved the sound (and the player). My brother has a couple of nice G&L basses, noticed they sounded great. Picked up a Trib Legacy in 2014, that got the fever burnin.
I use my comanche in my rock band, the ultimate rock guitar, IMHO. I ask and it gives. For blues, or anything, I like my trib ASAT special. I'd get the usa but I can't imagine it playing/sounding any better. I guess I lucked out.
Recent songs: we just played a gig with "Playin in the band (dead)" - challenging time signature, really fun once we got the arrangement down - "Renegade (styx)" - about the closest we get to metal - "Promises in the dark (benatar)" - up tempo piece that our lead singer likes.
Vaca: my 26 y/o son gets married in 2 weeks, we are getting psyched. Pennsylvania Blues Festival coming up in September in the Poconos. Had a great time last year, goin back for more. Got to jam with Slam Allen's band at that one, what a treat!
This is my band at a summer gig in 2013, brought the tele that day...

[Elwood]

Thanks Sam for picking up the stitch.
A bit of serendipity that you were the last guy responding (March 2015) to Casey's coffee table book thread. That's still a greaaaat idea !

Sorry for showing up late, but I see the G&L Cafe serves lunch all night.

The first G&L I saw and heard was in high school, 1981 I think. A rootbeer hog F-100E paired with a Mesa Mk1 combo, it was the lead sound in my friends band. I even have a link to the songs from the vinyl EP they put out.



I find it funny that South Park pretty much nailed it as far as Album cover composition goes.


My Skyhawk was getting daily use until I finished my homebrew G&L inspired guitar, it's alot of fun to rock out on something
made from scratch. I took alot of time to match the neck profile from the Skyhawk. It has one large MFD at the neck. However it is a bridge pup, angled with the bass side towards the bridge (opposite the angle used for typical bridge placement. I'll have to show it off in a project thread.

Parasailing must be a blast (don't forget to bring a towel!)

If you missed it, here's a first...
[youtube]gMp_NM3wCpc[/youtube]


Whew!

[WitSok]

Hey Sam! What a cool vacation! Meant to comment on that. Those pictures are so beautiful. I never been to Alaska, but is on my bucket list. And that para sailed story... CRAZY. Wow!

Sprinter, is that the Threshermans Reunion? My parents have gone to that, though I've never been there. I hear those old steam engines are pretty cool.

Jos, NZ should be awesome! My wife did her student teaching there. She loved it and would really like to move there... Who now's way things are looking a move may not be a bad idea.

Cool stories everyone!

[darwinohm]

Sam, thanks for picking up. Not a lot of time as I am preparing for hand surgery later this week. Lots of projects to complete! LRs were always my favorites. -- Darwin

[sam]

KF, Dr John, Elwood, and Darwin hey it's looking like a party here.

quick reply,
Darwin, hope the hand surgery goes well and does not affect our playing. Great to see you here.

Dan, frequent flier miles and Hilton points REALLY help for vacations like this. But I would recommend seeing some of these sites.

Elwood, I just keep coming back... and yes the G&L Café is open 24 hours (I can see a G&L Café t shirt somewhere along the line). WAY cool to watch but don't think you will see me strapping a nylon blanket to my back and jumping off a cliff

John, our youth sounds similar. Kay acoustic was my first guitar and the Beatles were (and are) my favorite band, I want to hold your hand was my first
record, a 45. Still have a Guess Who 45 or two. Glad to hear some Dead being played. For me they and Jerry are up to the top as well.

KF, You got a real purty ASAT. Sweet story about Chrissie Hinds. As they say, timing is everything. You are correct, thanks to Casey!

[Sprinter 92]

Sprinter, is that the Threshermans Reunion? My parents have gone to that, though I've never been there. I hear those old steam engines are pretty cool.

No it isn't the Threshermans Reunion. That is at Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. I hope to make that show next year.

[Fumble fingers]

thanks for bringing it back ..... I found G&L after my youngest two kids graduated high school and sold my Junior Dragster Operation when the kids "aged out" of junior racing , took my funds from that and bought some music gear , found out about G&L through the net , then found out I had a local music store that was a G&L dealer less than 6 miles away ..... the rest is history ...... my Fallout is my number 1 guitar but my ASAT's , Broadcaster is close second along with my LE 2 SC 2 .......

right at the moment my top 3 guitars are

1 Fallout , this one won't change from number 1
2 ... at the moment is a 1997 flamed and bound 3 bolt ASAT Deluxe , beautiful sounding humbuckers
3 .... my new Blues Boy ...... super light with a wide neck
4 .... toss up at the moment but S500 , SC2 and Bcaster along with 2013 ASAT Deluxe and 2012 Classic


haven't had a vacation since 1998 ..... feels like I'm due , but a couple 3 day weekends here and there is it

[sam]

Hey Eric, I saw the discussion about Lunch Report and thought "what the heck" (had to say it zapco!), Lunch Reports were always fun. With Craig's ok for an open mic each day maybe we can get a few each week, or at least a Monday Lunch Report to get it started then we can build momentum. You did great LR's in the past.

Another Fallout fan, could be a trend started with that design. I only held out on the LE2 because I have this OCD with ASAT's, but it could happen. If I ever had a music store six miles away I would be broke or on a stalker list. Sweet list of guitars ya got. Started taking vacations a few years back after no vacations for years and my family showed me how much fun we could have and I could relax away from work. Wise decision.

[meursault]

Damn... WTH did I eat Monday ?? Can't remember... I think there was chicken... anyway...

My first guitar was a squier tele...
The first time I saw a G&L, it was on stage mid to late 90's... the band was Karate... an asat and a legacy, I saw them a couple of times... then it goes out of my mind... went through a Gibson period... but each time I went on studio it's finally my squier that end on the records ... it was time to get rid of those Gibson's and go back to my first love : tele's... then I remembered that asat I saw with Karate... so I had the opportunity to trade a '91 LP lite for an asat classic ... I was hooked right away... then sold a LP DC to buy my asat... and I bought an SC2 a couple of months ago...

Fav model ? SC2... but I'm in a kind of honeymoon those time with it !
But this is the first time that I have that feel, that character, that mojo with a brand new guitar... but, well, from G&L to G&L, from hooooooo to whaaaaaa through yeeeeeeaaaah !

I'm on vacation right now, 5 days... the first one since more than a year... it's raining all the time so if we can avoid the subject...

Don't work a specific song... my own one's... when I play other one's stuff, most of the time it's some Unwound chords...

[john o]

Elwood, those guys looked like they were going through reentry!
Sometime when I was in maybe junior high school, i read a book about a guy who jumped out of a burning B17 over Germany without a chute at maybe 29,000 feet, he figured just falling might be less unpleasant final moments than going down with the ship. It was winter and he landed in a snowbank. survived with no major injuries! When the Germans learned his story, they had a parade for him... before he went to POW camp!

[Fumble fingers]

we are working on two more originals and one cover by Red Sun Rising , our singer does a great job on this song , we play it between this version and the acoustic version

[video]https://youtu.be/awyBrr0P69A[/video]

[yowhatsshakin]

Forgot to mention the tune I am practicing right now. It's this Keith Urban tune totally driven by this amazing vid.



Talk about somebody realizing my childhood dream of jumping on stage with a big name act and just kill it ... The heavens were smiling on you Rob Joyce and you totally deserved it.

- Jos

[JagInTheBag]

Every boy's dream right there! Wonder what young Rob Joyce is doing today...