Tuesday Lunch Report 10/15/2013

[Sprinter 92]

Things have been crazy busy and I forgot about being the Lunch Reporter this week. To make up for the lack of a report for Monday I'll do one on Saturday.

I'll start off with a brief introduction. My name is Steve and I live along the west coast of Missouri in the northwest corner. I'm located approximately halfway between Kansas City and Omaha. I work at a Chevrolet dealership and I'm a Chevrolet Certified Service technician which is a fancy term for mechanic. Being a car guy I sometimes like to ask car questions in my Lunch Reports. I've been playing guitar for 35 years and I've been playing G&L's for 30 years. My first G&L was a 1983 Nighthawk.



Lunch: I'm posting early and I'm not sure what I'll be having for lunch today.



Guitars: Do you own a guitar that you've owned for years, that you don't play very much, and you just can't sell it?

That guitar for me is a '78 Gibson, Les Paul Deluxe.



Amps: Top, Front or Back? Do you have a preferred location for the knobs on your amps?

I like amps with knobs located on the front. The reason is, amps with the knobs on the front can be stacked.



Cars: Are you brand loyal? If you are what brand or brands are you loyal to?

I'm loyal to GM & Chrysler.

[supereiv]

Hi Steve,

men who can fix cars are mistery to me, sort of wizard if you will
you play G&L for 30 years !!! that leaves me speechless. I only play G&L for the past 6 years, and I am not gonna change, so see you 24 years from now.

I don't have a guitar that I do not play nor sell, but I have a Trumpet Mute that I cannot sell even though I know I'm not gonna buy a trumpet again.

I like amps with the knobs on front, they can be stacked as you pointed, and I can see from a couple of meters away what are my settings.

EDIT : I'm loyal to Renault, just because I'm french I guess

Cheers, have a nice day

[bassman]

Hi Steve, Thanks for doing the LR duties this week.

I have a 1982 G&L S-500. I don't play it much but I don't want to sell it.

I like amps with knobs on the front and that can fit inside of a laptop bag. I am into portable and lightweight equipment.

I am not brand loyal to cars because I drive a Ford Ranger and a Toyota Camry. I jut keep cars a long time. My Ranger is a 1997 and I have owned it since 2001. The Camry is a 2000 and it has 155K miles on it and my wife drives a 1998 Toyota Sienna van which is about to go over 200K. We have owned the Toyotas since they were new.

I used to own a 1964 Chevy van in my younger days and it was a great truck with a 6 cylinder in-line engine that was between the front seats! I like the new Chevys and I would like to try one but my wife is branch loyal to Toyota.

[Ldavaz]

Hi, Steve---most people don't realize what a great part of the country you live in. I lived at Ft. Leavenworth from 1966 until 1973, on the west side of the river, the oldest military reservation west of the MO and the trailhead for the Santa Fe and Oregon trails. I drove through this summer with my oldest son, and it brought back a lot of memories.

I was a loyal Nissan customer from 1978 and still have two, but I will never buy one again for the terrible way they handled the known defect in the transcooler for the Pathfinder and Frontier. I had to trade my '05 Pathfinder in Seattle unexpectedly halfway through the same trip this summer.

I only don't have the guitars I wished I hadn't sold. I had 'em all over the years like a lot of people. I can say the best I gave away to my sons and they'll keep them (both G&L's). I also like the ones that I have the best.

I like chicken-head knobs on the front because you can see them and they don't get as dusty.

[Dave_P]

Hey Steve, lunch today was a bacon cheese burger with caramelized onions and chipotle aioli, came with a side of cheddar cheese potato puffs. Delicious but I was hoping the Korean (gourmet) food truck was downtown, no such luck though.

My guitar collection is small so currently all get played 2 of the 3 I will not sell.

I've been loyle to Subaru for about 10 years now, started because I liked rally racing, bought a WRX and fell in love. It was the first car I started wrenching on (and auto-x) and even though I couldn't afford to keep the wrx (I have a forester now) I still stick with them for the awd/reliability and the fact that I know my way around them mechanically.

Thanks for taking on LR duties this week!

-Dave

[astutzmann]

Lunch today was with a neighbour at a Vietnamese restaurant and that means PHO soup and spring rolls, yumm

I have some guitars that are more favoured than others but I have been working on trying to play all of them and I am now enjoying them all.

My wife and I are loyal to VW, currently have a 2009 Jetta Diesel that we drive twice a year from canada to florida. Great gas mileage with the TDI.

I have been loyal to Nissan since I finally found a great sales guy. I buy Nissans just because I want to buy from him. He knows his stuff, is sales focused, always provides me with a deal I'm happy with and we get along great. He also runs the local Martial Arts studio in town. Don't want to piss him off, he's a black belt.

I was tired of spending lots on cars, only to trade them alot, so I asked him for a fun car (was looking at the new fiat), he recommended the loaded JUKE. Everything except leather, AWD for $22k............great, fun little commuter car, I love it! Looks like a FROG.

He just moved to Toyota so that will probably be my next car.

[meowmix]

I don't see the need to sell any of my guitars.
THe money I can sell it for wouldn't be much and I would rather still own it.

Being a DIYer, my amps have the knobs up front.


No knobs in the back. Just power outlet, 115/220 V switch, bias plugs, and speaker jacks.

My GT pre-amp has knobs in the back, but since it is in the back, it doesn't get touched.

Here is another amp with all knobs up front.


I'm not loyal to any car manufacturer, quality and price is a factor on purchasing them.

[Boogie Bill]

I have a few guitars that I don't play as much as I should. My 1975 Martin D-28, my Music Man Sabres, my Ibanez 5-string banjo, and a couple of my Les Pauls. But I have a hard time letting anything go...so I guess my heirs will have to deal with them.

I definitely prefer amps with the knobs on the front. The Fender BF/SF amps with the numbered knobs are the best. Mesa used this style in the original Mark Series amps. Unfortunately, they have moved away from that design.


Miss Leslie is fiercely loyal to Honda. Her 1999 Accord VTEC V6 has been a pretty amazing car. I have a 2010 Chrysler Town and Country van, and my last car was a Voyager van.

Odd...in thinking about it I've owned two Fords, two Chevys and now two Mopars.

Looking forward to an interesting week.

Bill

[blargfromouterspace]

I have two old guitars that I rarely play but can't sell. The first is a Washburn Dimebag Darrel that my dad bought me for my 15th birthday. I haven't played it for years and it's essentially worthless so I see no reason to sell. The second is a semi-hollow '68 Baldwin Vibraslim that I bought when I was 20. It's a great guitar but being so old it feels fragile, especially compared to a solid body ASAT.

The best amp knob position for me is on the top, but along the front edge of the amp. The Supro I had a couple of years back had that layout and it was great if you needed to tweak settings while on stage as the knobs are so easy to see. My current amp has them on the top at the rear, which is a terrible spot. When I use it live I tilt it back and have it up on a chair making them impossible to see.

I'm driving a Toyota at the moment and will probably get another one if they ever release a medium/large, 2WD, diesel wagon with manual transmission. I like their recipe - boring but reliable - and their 'Hip to be Sqaure' ad is very good, don't know if you get this one in the US.
[youtube]MYTX_gq54p4[/youtube]

[darwinohm]

Steve, I had a late breakfast at Perkins, a mushroom cheese omelet with two of the bandmates.

I do not want to sell any guitars either. I like all of them but there are a few that I would keep if I had to make that choice. It is a good question though. I happened to see a picture of 18 guitars on the wall from 2008. I only have 5 of those left and the others have all been replaced. That was before I had any G&Ls. I have had more than 20 G&Ls since then and still have 16. Now that you've asked the question I have thought about that. I have become much more diverse in the brands that I have. When I began buying guitars in 2005, the only thing I bought was Fenders. I has been a long time since I actually played one of the Fenders. I guess we change like anything else with age but I'm not sure that we age like fine wine!

I like front controls with black knobs and white numbers for gigging as they are easier to see. I use the small led light that came in my Chrysler Town and Country at gigs to see the knobs on my Carvin bass rig. They are red with a black dot, almost impossible to see in anything other than direct sunlight. I have the same issue with the PA head so I use the light for gigging.

As for vehicles I was a VW fan as a young guy in the 60's when they weren't cool. Anything other than American cars were frowned upon by the farmers where I grew up. I went back to American cars in the late sixties and had cars from the big three. I even had an AMC. I now have the T&C to haul my band gear and it does the job very well. GInny has a Toyota Solara convertible and it is a nice car. I am loyal to Honda when it comes to motorcycles. I have a 1990 Gold Wing which I now have 150,000 miles on and still runs and lookes great. It is the most reliable rig I have owned. I had a Harley in my younger days but got over that real fast. I carried a lot of wrenches in the saddle bags along with pieces of chain, both primary and drive. Great memories!!!!!

[Philby]

Hi Steve. Thanks for taking the reins.

Nearly all my guitars get a workout at some time or another. One of the exceptions is this one, an '85 MIJ A-series '62 reissue. I'm led to believe it's collectible because it's from the first ever run of MIJ Fenders. For that reason I don't play it as much as I probably should. Which is a shame 'cos it's a lovely instrument.



Re. amp knobs, as long as they're not on the back I don't really care. All the amps I own have the knobs at the top rear. As long as the scale labels are readable from the front i.e. not upside down, I'm not fussed.

I'm not a brand loyal car buyer. Between my wife and I we've had 2 Fords, 2 Nissans, 2 Mazdas and 2 Renaults. They've all been great cars, except the last Mazda. No more Mazdas for us.

[Fumble fingers]

Steve we had meatloaf , scalloped potatoes and green beans for lunch today

I don't want to sell any of them , haven't played my Ovation much since I got into electrics but no way I would sell it


Cars I prefer Ford , Chrysler and GM but I have owned or driven about everything , I don't work on cars near as much as I did years ago but I still do all the automatic transmission's rebuilds , half of driveability computer controls , rear axles set ups and stuff like that for the shop , I don't remove or install tranny's or engines anymore accept on my own personel race cars or hot rods

[glvourot]

All the guitars I have now I am happy with and don't intend to sell. I have an old Yamaha acoustic that I never play anymore but it has sentimental value so it will stay, it needs some work that I hope to get eventually. The few amps I have had all had knobs on the front but I am not opposed to top mounted controls.

Lets see, I have owned three volkswagans , a Toyota ( never again ) a couple of BMW's , a Mercedes for a short time and this summer I bought a Mini cooper which is a blast to drive. The Mini is probably my favorite of the bunch. I drove a rusty Honda accord for a few years too, it was a good car. If I bought American I would sure love to have one of those new Stingrays, they are very nice looking cars.

[gitman001]

Hey Steve,

I have a early Steve Vai Jem that i bought when i was 16.... I will probably hold on to that one. I think I have only sold 1 guitar in my life, once they are with me they are here to stay!

I certainly prefer knobs on the front... and most of my gear consists of heads and cabinets. Easy access, easy to see.

I have always had Chevy and Dodge vehicles.... Until about 2 months ago... When i bought my first ford.... A 1972 Mustang! I know there are a bunch of car guys on here, i really need to get a picture or two of her up here

Scott

[darwinohm]

Philby, that Strat is really cool and I agree. I think it is collectible. Those MIJs were sweet. -- Darwin

[Dave_P]

Nearly all my guitars get a workout at some time or another. One of the exceptions is this one, an '85 MIJ A-series '62 reissue. I'm led to believe it's collectible because it's from the first ever run of MIJ Fenders. For that reason I don't play it as much as I probably should. Which is a shame 'cos it's a lovely instrument.

Philby, The guy I bought the SC-2 from last weekend also had an early/mid 80's "MIJ" '62 reissue strat for sale. It was better than any recent strat I've played. Light, resonant and the neck had a nice "V" profile. If I had the money I'd have bought both guitars, the CA Red looks great!

-Dave

[Brock]

As far as car brands, I prefer mopar, then Ford. I wouldn't call myself "loyal", and if I look at condition on a used car more than make (within reason).

As far as new vehicles, I'm very interested in Elio.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ge1ZGi1bTQ

They have the mixture of obvious (more efficient = better gas mileage) and practical (haul what you need). We'll see how it works out, but a great idea all the same.