LR for Christmas Day 2013

[lesdavaz]

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE...as it is, this may be west coast LR today...where did the day go?

LUNCH

Guess. Right, leftovers from last night. 'nuff said.

CASES

I doubt I am the first one to say this, but the standard plastic cases don't do justice to these fine instruments. They also seem to have the distinction of being the most common broken case out there. Why??? I am fortunate to have three of the five G&L's under my roof come with G&G premium cases, but those get torn up. One of my G&L's came with one of their gig bags which I like a lot. My signature S-500 came with a nice MBT flight case. I had never heard of them before, but it's the best. I use it with whatever guitar leaves the house. How about you? What case tops your list for your G&L guitars?

FEMALE ARTIST

Recognizing that this forum is male-dominant, how about we talk about my favorite subject: girls. I have always dug chick guitar players, and usually don't care how or what they play. I think my fave female performing artist right now is Grace Potter. She is young, talented, beautiful and sexy. Her band sports a female bassist (actually, like Grace, another multi-instrumentalist) who is dynamite. In honor of women this Christmas day, who is your favorite lady guitar player?

CHRISTMAS PRESENTS

Well, you knew it was coming. Get any gear? My wife bought me a lightly used Eminence 12" 70-watt speaker off CL that I drew her attention to. It is an OEM Buddah speaker. I swapped out the 90-watt Celestion I had in a Thiele Mesa 1 X 12 cab, and it sounds fantastic. I put the Celestion in my Fender HRD, and it rings like a bell. In an earlier post I mentioned that in November she bought me a 1998 ASAT Classic to replace one that I gave my son. I borrowed that guitar back for a couple of weeks in the summer and remembered that it was the nicest guitar I had ever owned. So now I got it back. Happy, happy happy!

What did you score, or give, musically-speaking?

Merry Chistmas to all.

Regards,

Les

[yowhatsshakin]

Happy Holiday too, Les. And everybody elso too of course.

For lunch my wife and I had a wonderful Caesar salad with chicken.

All but 6 of my guitars have a G&G (or TLK) tolex or tweed hard-shell cases. Most of them are still looking good because I take good care of them. But since most of my guitars were bought used you have to live with whatever the seller provides you with. Four G&L have thermoplastic cases spanning all the different version G&L has used. So most likely they won't be replaced. My Papoose is the only one with a gig bag although I do have an unused G&L gig bag in the collection too. Finally, my Ibanez AW-25 12-string has a cardboard 'hard'-shell case; only protecting it from the most trivial abuse. Still, that case has been around the world (with guitar in it) and is still in one piece. A small miracle

There are many favorite female artists, some guitar players some not. My wife and I saw Heart a couple of weeks ago and Nancy Wilson is an awesome guitar slinger. Quite literally at that! Many female artists owe a lot to Carole King and Kate Bush. And who can omit Joni Mitchell? She is known for her odd tunings. Another songstress using a lot of open tunings is Jonatha Brooke. I love her music and have been a fan of hers since the beginning.

This year, we decided not to exchange presents for X-mas. Instead, we enjoy each others company during my time off from work and I will be preparing Ossobuco later this afternoon. Looking forward to it!

- Jos

[suave eddie]

CASES

There have been many earlier discussions regarding cases.
The custom G&G that came with my ASAT sits unused since I got the Reunion Blues.
Check out the YouTube video of guitars being tossed off of 3 story buildings.


FEMALE ARTIST

I'd have to say Bonnie Raitt--very under-estimated slide player and excellent all around guitarist--not to mention vocalist.
After that I would have to mention Susan Tedeschi.

[darwinohm]

Happy holidays from our house also. Lunch was also leftovers and so will dinner tonight!

I find that most good quality cases are pretty much the same. I have thermoplastic, G&C tolex types and they all work for me as I really don't use them. They are all stored on shelves in the garage. I purchased some Wolfpak cases which I use for all gigs. They are durable and protect the guitar quite well. I use them on both the guitars and basses. They are starting to show a bit of wear but most of my original cases are as new. The most interesting and probably the best case that I have is the John Mayer InCase for my John Mayer Strat. Here are a couple of pics.




As for Female guitars players, I haven't seen any recently. I have seen a few good bass players. I have always enjoyed Emmy Lou as she is a decent player. I wonder why we don't see more female guitarists? Good question Les.

No new gear for Christmas. Ginny and I also agreed to not worry about gifts and just took care of the granddaughters. We were all together last night and it was a blast as usual. I have the garage finished off and heated so we set up large tables out there and have fun. It is truly an extension of our house and I use it every day. We all roam in and out. We had a lot of snow last night but at least it was above zero. I am relaxing after shoveling snow and raking the roof edges. We have a lot of snow and it isn't even January! Have nice evening everyone. --Darwin

[Salmon]

Merry Christmas!

Cases: I have one of the older plastic cases and three of the newer premium cases. I sold an older G&L that had a different version of the older plastic case. I did not like the latches on the oldest model because they were clunky. I appreciate design elegance which can be achieved in any product.

Of the three newer premium cases the newest, a 2013, is a downgrade IMO. The other two premiums have three latches, two key locking with one not locked while the newest case has three latches but only one of the three locks. The locking latches are hardly substantial. I think you could get around all of these latches using a screw driver and some leverage. But the lock does supply a degree of security against snoops.

Overall the rather clunky oldest case that sold with the oldest G&L I had was the strongest though it was clunky. The latches compressed when tightened making them less likely to pop open. The premiums can easily pop open if bumped or the case dropped. The lid and base do not align well enough and I think they could pop open and spill the guitar if bumped hard enough while carrying them, say as little as bumping into the frame while passing through a doorway. So far one hasn't popped open but while holding the handle I always have a finger extended to secure the lid, I have so little confidence in the case's ability to stay closed. ......this considering my precious guitar is at risk. I would use a special soft travel case / gig bag if I regularly transported a guitar.

Other than the latches I prefer the premium cases. They are narrower so you can fit more into a lineup. I also prefer having all of the guitars in the same size case as they look neat when stored.

Female Artist: Favorite lady musician would be Sarah McLachlan, a very talented composer, musician and vocalist, although she is not a lead guitarist. I also think Bonnie Raitt deserves attention for being a great musician who just happens to be female. Of course her voice is phenomenal but she plays slide guitar exceptionally well while not exploiting her gender. She is a musician first and foremost. So many female guitarists dress like strippers or at least try to use their looks to boost attention while their skill may or may not warrant being noticed at all.

Christmas Presents: Superior Drummer software.

[suave eddie]

Of the three newer premium cases the newest, a 2013, is a downgrade IMO. The other two premiums have three latches, two key locking with one not locked while the newest case has three latches but only one of the three locks. The locking latches are hardly substantial. I think you could get around all of these latches using a screw driver and some leverage. But the lock does supply a degree of security against snoops.

Like my dad told me years ago--"Locks are for honest people."
I always thought that a lock on a guitar case was one of the most useless things imaginable.

[NickHorne]

Good question about cases! After reading everyone's comments about them, I'm going to review mine!
I've just been using whatever I had, all my life, at least for road transport. But I'll make a point of researching some meatier ones for the guitars that go out with me.
My lifetime ideas of what really works for me have boiled down to a smallish number of quality instruments, and damage to any of them would be a real loss.

As for the lady players, well, great question too!
Must agree wholeheartedly with votes for Bonnie Raitt and Susan Tedeschi.
Musically, equal score at high level, in their different but great ways.
Male-appeal ditto, very.

[Fumble fingers]

I have three different G&L cases , my 2000 Comanche and 1996 S500 have a smaller case than my new ones , my cavalier has a medium size case then my new ones are the larger , I prefer the smaller cases just because they are a little easier to manuver through the house other wise I'm fine with them


A female player I have really been impressed with here lately is the girl playing bass for Jeff Beck named Rhonda Smith I think , she's a young small girl with some wavy hair but she can rip on the Bass , dang she did a little bass solo on one of Jeff's songs and just killed it , I was totally impressed ....

[sam]

Merry Christmas to you too!

My cases run from G&L plastic to G&L gig bag, G&G, Fenders, GCenter tweed to no names. The ones that have held up best are old G&L, G&G and an old Fender (70's), although I have a handful of G&L newer plastic but do think they are a bit fragile.

I am a fan of Oriantji. Saw her play live with Alice Cooper and on the tube a few times, she can cover a serious amount of range. Jennifer Batten is another female player I like. These are ladies that re killer players and can throw in some shred if needed.

Music presents were iTunes and a bunch of guitar wall hangars to get my guitars out of those cases mentioned above and ready for easy access!

[sam]

Oops misspelled a name, no spellcheck and fast typing....Orianthi as in Orianthi Panagaris

[yowhatsshakin]

I have three different G&L cases , my 2000 Comanche and 1996 S500 have a smaller case than my new ones , my cavalier has a medium size case then my new ones are the larger , I prefer the smaller cases just because they are a little easier to manuver through the house other wise I'm fine with them


A female player I have really been impressed with here lately is the girl playing bass for Jeff Beck named Rhonda Smith I think , she's a young small girl with some wavy hair but she can rip on the Bass , dang she did a little bass solo on one of Jeff's songs and just killed it , I was totally impressed ....

I think you mean Tal Wilkenfeld who is the your bass phenom in Jeff's band off and on. Although, don't get me wrong, Rhonda is nothing to sneeze at either.

- Jos

[Fumble fingers]

it's the young girl .... wasn't sure of the name , try to look it up but could only come up with the name Rhonda , the bigger girl she decent too but not like the young girl , I've watched Jeff a couple times with different bass players but didn't catch the names

[zapcosongs]

I used to have a thing for Juliana Hatfield.

"A heart that hurts
is a heart that works."

- ed

Happy Holidays, Everybody!

[supereiv]

CASES

I do like pretty much the G&G cases, I have two of them and they're sturdy and classy, the plastic molded one that came with the ASAT classic S is meh,
but I don't really care because I only use a semi rigid gig bag from Gator to go to rehearsals and gigs :
http://www.gatorcases.com/p/16169-1370/g-com-elec

FEMALE ARTIST

my favorite female guitarist/singer must be Susan Tedeschi at the moment, I just love her voice, and she has some real funky blues licks in her toolbox

CHRISTMAS PRESENTS

I receive a second Barber Small Fry, a Polytune II, a moody leather strap (awesome !) and, not really a christmas present, but my wife bought me a used Eastman AR371 (an ES175 copy) which is really AWESOME !!!

[Elwood]

I was given a nice orange striped strap for my stripy orange G&L.
Made be a cool company in california (sound familiar?) . I think a member here was where I first heard of Couch straps .
I bet it'll get more comfy the more I use it, and it has a nice grip factor on the shoulder. I would go for a wide one next time.



G&G's seem to be worthy. Someday carbon fiber will be cheaper...until then I'm ok with plywood.

cheers

[Elwood]

Happy Holidays, Everybody!

Thanks !!
Right back at ya ed

[zapcosongs]

Happy Holidays, Everybody!

Thanks !!
Right back at ya ed

Thanks Elwood.

btw, that's one fantastic strap for one fantastic instrument there. Someone must love (and know) you well.
Enjoy! - ed

[GDub]

Savages!

[youtube]cL7uHhCo4qw[/youtube]

--GDub

[KenC]

I didn't ask for (or receive) anything musical. I gave several musical gifts, though. My oldest son received a very nice mouthpiece and ligature for his alto sax, along with a portable Hercules stand and a couple of miscellaneous books about sax technique. My youngest received a '93 MIM DuoSonic, and an EHX bass boost pedal for his electric bass. I also got him a set of D'Addario Chromes flats for his bass, which I think will be a bit better for learning than the light strings that were on it.

I guess I could count a compliment and some encouragement from my in-laws as a gift. I picked up a marginally playable acoustic guitar that was sitting in the corner on Christmas morning, and wobbled my way through chord melodies on a couple of carols. I thought my playing was horrible, but my Mother-in-Law (a psychotherapist) asked if I would be willing to record a CD that she could play on a loop in her office during sessions. That may just have been the nudge I've needed to start recording.

Ken