Step right up boys and girls…Boogie Bill is back in the official Lunch Reporter’s chair and I promise to amaze you this week with thought-provoking questions and deep insights into the world of the gee-tar!!!! I’d just like to say that it’s nice to be back, but please hold your applause until the end of the page.
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I have no ideas what I will have for lunch today. I have to get some blood drawn, so I may grab something after. I’m in love with my phlebotomist—she sticks me and I NEVER feel it, and never a bruise. Slick and quick!
One of my favorites for lunch lately has been a New Orleans-style eatery here in Portland call “EAT—An Oyster Bar”. The jambalaya is really good, but I just can’t seem to get enough of the oyster Po’ Boy sandwiches. Yummy!
Do you like seafood? How is it in your area? Do you have favorites, OR…are there things from the sea that you WON’T eat.
Seafood here in the Portland, Oregon area (and the Pacific Northwest in general) is pretty darn good. I love seafood: crab, shrimp, oysters, clams, scallops, salmon, halibut, cod, tuna, calamari, sushi—I love it all. Mussels though, are not a favorite—I got sick one time after eating them, which may or may not have been due to the mussels. But just about anything else is good.
How do you get along with seafood?
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Today, we are buying and selling, so get those checkbooks and Visa cards warmed up.
Review your purchases for 2013, and tell us the high points. What did you get; where did you get it? Are you happy with your purchases? Have they met your expectations, or…was the honeymoon over before the ink dried on the check?
When you’ve bought something that isn’t working for you, do you dump it right away? Do you tend to modify it to your needs? Does it become a closet queen or wall decoration? Or do you hang with it until you figure it out?
Do you think about potential resale value when you buy? Have you ever bought a piece with the idea that it would be a “good investment”?
Where do you buy? Do you use a big box store or a mom-and-pop music store? Do you search the Internet marketplaces like Craigslist, Ebay, Gbase, Harmony Central, etc.
What resources do you use in your buying decisions? Do you read magazine or Internet reviews? Do you scour YouTube videos? Are you checking out what other players are using? Where do you get your product information?
Have you ever bought a guitar, amp or effect—knowing that you didn’t really need it—but because it was simply too good a deal to pass up?
What is the most money you have ever spent on a guitar?
How much money is TOO MUCH to spend on a guitar?
What is the one piece you are really lusting for…cost no object?
What G&L would you like to add to your collection?
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Let’s look at selling….
What pieces have you SOLD this year?
Did you get your asking price, or something close? Did you make a profit, or get a fair value for the use you got out of the product—or did you have to take a loss?
Where do you sell your items? Do you use Craigslist, Ebay, Gbase, a forum marketplace, or place a Classified Ad in your local paper?
How about trades? Or have you done any trade-ins—your gear for a new item at a store?
Tell us about those pieces you REALLY wish you had back!
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Have a happy Monday. And remember to practice random acts of kindness—and let’s do it for this whole week. Promise me you will give someone a compliment, rescue a stray animal, help a little old lady cross the street, hold the door for someone infirm or elderly, etc.
Let’s make the world a better place, and let’s start today.
And don't forget to SMILE!
Bill
The LB100 is getting a set of flat-wound LaBella's (as per Kens suggestion) and I'm adding a finger-rest and a foam mute (is that what they're called?) by the bridge. Not being a bass player its taken me while to find the way I like to play it, and it's with my thumb just in front of the pickup.
