Friday LR

[blargfromouterspace]

Todays lunch was a ham, cheese and tomato croissant from one of the best bakers I've ever been to.

On the topic of food, What's on your table for xmas this year? How do you do your turkey?
I moved to a new town a fortnight ago to a very, very nice house (relative to the old place anyway ) and my girlfriend and I have decided to host xmas for both of our families. 9 of us in total which might not seem like many to other people, but it will be the largest xmas I've ever cooked for. I am the cook in the house and have been having fun planning the meal - turkey (of course!), which I intend to spatchcock and prime rib with a host of vegetable side dishes for the main event. I was recently introduced to green bean casserole by some Americian friends at their thanksgiving dinner and will be making one of them, that is some good veges.

G&L. Fender have released these rustic finish series in the American Standards. Kind of a take on G&Ls NENA finishes. I think they are very, very cool and with the exception of that ridiculous reddish aluminium pickguard, they look really good in the flesh.


Has G&L dropped the ball by only doing the NENA thing one finish at a time? I'm eagerly waiting for the next series of NENA guitars and just hope that it includes a Bluesboy with specs I like, but I admit that I am sorely tempted to just go to a shop and buy one of these Fenders.

[Philby]

Hi Jamie,

Cooking a new recipe for the first time, for 9 people including the in-laws, in a new kitchen sounds like a high risk strategy to me What could go wrong?

This year my wife, kids and I will be in Hobart for Xmas lunch with the in-laws. My mother-in-law is Indian and puts together a strange and wonderful feast based on traditional fare. There's turkey, ham, seafood, Yorkshire puddings, roast vegetables, the works. It all looks completely traditional on the plate, but then you put the food in your mouth and realise that everything has been curried within an inch of its life. The turkey seasoning can cause 3rd degree burns.

I like those rustic Fenders, red aluminium pick guard and all. I'll bet the aluminium does a really good shielding job, which should relate to a marked reduction in hum. The blonde strat with the maple neck looks very tasty indeed. Mind you, the ale tint used in the NENA finishes is a thing of subtle beauty too.

[Salmon]

The memorable food of the day was two pieces of an incredible cake iced in real whipped cream with a filling of whipped cream and fresh banana.

All of that on your Christmas dinner menu sounds very tasty.

I do not like the look of those Fenders. The wood reminds me of various treatments that make me think of "cutting" (i.e. taking a propane torch to wood or using the wood engravers, dremels, or heat irons). I really don't like the look of burned wood. Can you feel the grain on these or the NENA guitars?

I have changed my mind about many things upon seeing them with the right combination of attributes.

So far I prefer guitar finishes that are glossy and smooth.

I think it is a difficult position that G&L creates for itself with the special edition guitars. If they knock one out of the park you risk devaluing the model by offering too much of its features in a standard option. Autumnburst could be standard and not hurt anything. I ignored the NENA and am not sure if NENA was The Feature or if it was some combination with a NENA finish that was the crux of the edition but NENA style finishes could be standard options if it was the later.

[blargfromouterspace]

Cooking a new recipe for the first time, for 9 people including the in-laws, in a new kitchen sounds like a high risk strategy to me What could go wrong?
My mother-in-law is Indian and puts together a strange and wonderful feast based on traditional fare. There's turkey, ham, seafood, Yorkshire puddings, roast vegetables, the works. It all looks completely traditional on the plate, but then you put the food in your mouth and realise that everything has been curried within an inch of its life. The turkey seasoning can cause 3rd degree burns..

Phil, that meal sounds incredible. I want to crack a nice cold pale ale just thinking about curry spiced ham *drool*!!!
And, being almost as much of a food nerd as a guitar nerd, I've eliminated any possibility of failure in the kitchen on xmas day by thoroughly testing the oven, and I have made approximations of the recipes I intend to use. Yep, food nerd The ovens at all the places I've lived in the last 8 years have only had one temperature - maximum - and I could still get a good roast out of them with careful juggling of hot pans. This one has many temperatures and is, by comparison, childs play to use

Salmon - Not sure about the NENAs but you can feel the grain in the Fenders, and the finish is the main feature of those guitars. Great point you raise about success in limited runs too. I think the success of the Korina Jr must have had something to do with the introduction of the Tribute series version of that guitar.

[supereiv]

Xmas meal ? that's a tough one in english but I'll try :
My wife and I are receiving my father in-law and his wife (not my mother in-law) the 25th, as the 24th is already scheduled in my side of the family.

I will cook a roasted Capon (3kg) with some potatoes "de Noirmoutier" crushed with truffles. We'll also have some foie gras and some oysters "fine de claire n°6" as starters, a small but tasty (and pricey) cheese dish composed of : camembert de normandie, pouligny st pierre, Comté 18 mois, and some little goat cheese like crottin de chavignol or picodon. A green salad seasoned by my wife.
We're gonna drink some champagne and redwine (I didn't decide at the time which one).

I don't particularly like the NENA finish, I think it looks cheap. But, just like Louis did, I wish they can offer NItro finish as an option !
And I wish you fellow GbLers could appreciate the autumn burst as much as I appreciate it everytime I look at my S-500 proto

[Salmon]

@ Xavier, is that menu more typical of a French dinner than it looks? It is suitable for a gourmet by USA standards. If you prepare something like that ever I imagine you eat food of this caliber more often than very special occasions. BTW, I silently thank you every time I see you post with your S500 Deluxe avatar.

[supereiv]

Well, we don't eat foie gras and oyster every weeks (and I regret it).
No, it is not a typical dinner menu, but we eat like that every once in a while, not specifically on Xmas eve.
For example, I eat menu like this when I visit my mother or my mother in law, but it's for the special occasions I must agree, more because it's expensive than complicated.

[astutzmann]

for Xmas dinner, we do the traditional, turkey with all the trimmings. I find turkey to be dry and boring so I've tried everything, deep frying, bbq'ing, marinating, etc etc.

My favourite was the deep fried, it was great, moist, fantastic. My wife didn't like it. I did it outside of course and it was raining and the hot oil spilled out a bit and burnt the grass and the cleanup after with all that oil is tough......so, while everyone agreed that its the best, we don't do it anymore. I have seen deep fryers that use hot air and minimal oil. I'd like to try that one day.

We are not ham lovers so I usually have hungarian sausages to go along with the turkey (YUMMMM).


I used to like all the colours, I have a spanish copper metallic blues boy and its nice. BUT, I really like the finishes where one can see the wood. I have a natural asat special and its amazing. Can't wait for the autumn burst LE-2.

Not sure of the new finishes, but I haven't seen them in person to be able to tell.

Alf

[glvourot]

My sister will still do a traditional turkey dinner. She makes a good bird. My mother in law however, will cook a great turkey with the usual fixings plus some sort of homemade chinese noodle dish and a great beef curry. We look forward to that curry. Sometimes there are curry puffs as well, those are great too. I would gladly have supereiv's meal too ! If I could get past the wine and champagne.

The nena finish is not my thing, I'm with salmon in that I prefer a nice smooth glossy finish. The Fender is marginally tolerable but I am not a fan of that pickguard.

Good luck with your dinner blarg, it sounds like it will be a winner. Are you going to drink some great Aussie wine with it? A nice sparkling Shiraz to get the ball rolling?

[darwinohm]

It is just after 8 Am and I am thinking about these delicious meals that you have all talked about. We often have a bunch of snacks for Christmans eve as everyone is moving around and having fun. We do a family brunch on Thanksgiving as the kids are always heading somewhere else. I do like Turkey but it tends to be a bit dry , especially leftover and I love leftovers! Stuff the turkey with good dressing and it is a mainstay! Jamie, it is very thoughtful of you to have done all this preparation. The other possibility is to get them all lushed up before the meal and them no one cares!

I am not a fan of thin or naked finishes. I don't even like to see the grain ripple in the gloss finishes which I have seen on a few PRS guitars. I like them smooth. I have grown fond of my EQ mahog Bluesboy but it is not my favorite to look at. The thin skin Fenders do not impress me, it is another way to cut costs. I also like the transparent finishes showing the grain. The Blond Legacy I looked at a week ago was stellar. The nice thing about these G&L's is that not many are alike. That can be a problem with expectations on special orders.-- Darwin

[Fumble fingers]

sounds like a good meal Blarg ..... My wife is cooking this year but we won't have all the family in ...The key to a good moist Turkey is you need to cook it with the breast side down .... and it doesn't fit in the pan good breast side down so you have to rig a apperatice to hold the Turkey in place correctly while it cooks (baseball size aluminum foil works fine), when you cook Breast side down the juices from the dark meat feed the white meat as it cooks , it will come out moist with out any Voodo ritual's


not a fan of the Nena either , I like a glossy finish , transparent is fine and so is big flake , Darwin is right about they are all slightly different weather you think its good or bad , just the difference in the same wood from different trees probably makes a difference on how colors soaks in to the wood for the total finished product on transparent finishes

[NickHorne]

A finish which Id love to see G&L offer, and which would be competitive with Fender's clear colours, is the clear Turqoise that was on that beautiful Asat prototype on the G&L site, the one with the great carving / pyrography.
A clear gloss version of that would be stunning on ash if it was manageable for production.
(+ this correspondent has been over that turq proto for ages....)

They might also try a dilute version of their Clear Blue, sort of a Clear Sky Blue?

It seems Fender are keen to show off some grain with their colours / finishes, and this is surely attractive to buyers.

FMIC must have a vast research and marketing budget, and their colours look like well-judged, well-timed fashion ideas; perhaps a little G&L thought along similar lines, without any major expenditure, might be worthwhile?

[repoman]

Lunch today was just a bit of yogurt as I was feeling a bit queasy after a big breakfast.

XMAS Dinner:
I'm traveling to visit family this year. Something I haven't done in about 10 years. There will be a brunch at my parents house followed by a traditional turkey dinner with all the fixins' at my aunts house with about 30-40 aunts, uncles, cousins, and brothers. My aunt is a great cook so it should be good.

That spatchcock turkey looks interesting. I'll have to try it sometime. But...my favorite method so far is the http://www.thetrashcanturkey.com

I first tried it several years ago and have since turned several others onto it as well. We now do it every year on New Years Day as part of a big family gathering. Everyone that tries it is usually convinced.

I've only seen the NENA finishes in pictures. So I'll have to reserve judgement until I see one in person.
But count me as one that likes to see the grain. I love the looks of honeyburst, redburst, old school tobacco burst.

Jeff

[yowhatsshakin]

Hey Jamie,

We'll have ossobuco for X-mas. After preparing an (organic) turkey for Thanksgiving I seem to have sated my appetite for turkey for life. Just not very fond of it. C'est la vie. But for our dish, one spends the day in the kitchen as well. Not a problem for me since I love to cook.

NENA finishes look amazingly cool in real life. I have 'The Wrangler' and a 2012 ASAT Classic 'S' in the finish used for the first series. The feel is different though and it takes getting used to. Palms sweat differently on that finish so to speak. It is amusing to see Fender do the same thing although I do not know who came first here. Like I wrote in a different post, I think G&L should not worry too much about all of these things and focus on what they are good at.

Just as a reminder, here is the first NENA finish produced by G&L:


- Jos

[sam]

Jamie,
Yer makin me hungry. We usually do a BIg beef tenderloin, a turkey and wide variety of veggies and casseroles for between 10-13. The women of both sides of the family do the cooking so I can focus on eating!

I do like the NENA finishes but not a fan of "rustic" hardware. Don't know if they dropped the ball per se, because they did have to have a test case. If the next version flies out the door and they get a lot of special requests it could make for a business case. Depending on the next rollout, especially if an ASAT I could be persuaded. Grain is great in my book.

[blargfromouterspace]

Gotta say I'm pretty surprised that more of you don't like the thin, satin finishes. I dunno if they really help a guitar sound better but I'm sure a thin finish would be more important than whether that finish was poly or nitro. Then again, G&Ls glossy finishes are pretty sweet.

Xavier - That dinner sounds amazing. I'd like to try foie gras and truffles one day when I'm rich enough to afford them. Oysters I really like. I used to live in a remote part of North-west Australia where you could walk out to the beach and eat them straight off the rocks. Tasty!

Alf - I had chicken wings cooked in one of those air fryers once and was not thrilled with the result. It was like the wings had been cooked in an oven then dipped in oil before being served I would love to deep fry a turkey though, and I have a pot that I use for brewing beer that is big enough to do it in with minimal mess And high five on spanish copper bluesboys! Its a great finish.

Glvourot - You have just added curry puffs to my xmas day list. They would go down a treat. And you bet I'll be drinking some good wine! I received a dozen bottles yesterday - some very good shiraz and a few different of my favourite red - a blend commonly called GSM, thats grenache, shiraz and mouvedre. There's a bottle of '72 'Grand Cru' Bordeaux that may be opened too. I haven't had a bottle of sparkling shiraz for a number of years, might just have to get one now you mention it.

Darwin - I'm really hoping that this turkey doesn't dry out. I haven't cooked one before but have researched cooking them so that they don't dry out, and I hope the info is accurate

Fumble - I always cook chicken like that All the flavour from the stuffing gets in the breast meat too

Nick - Good idea on that turquoise, that is a good colour. On the colours, you can actually buy stains in some really cool '50s type colours from the hardware shop now, and they cost bugger all. I think when I stained the parts guitar I used maybe $1 worth, and thats out of the most uneconomically sized can of stain there was.

Jeff - That's a novel way of cooking a turkey, looks like fun. I remember seeing one where a beer can is used inside the turkey too!

Jos - Osso-bucco is always good. Love the marrow.

Sam - I'm with you on rustic hardware. Its pretty silly.

[Salmon]

FMIC must have a vast research and marketing budget, and their colours look like well-judged, well-timed fashion ideas; perhaps a little G&L thought along similar lines, without any major expenditure, might be worthwhile?

I will share my ideas free of charge.

[zapcosongs]

Wouldn't it be great if the Fenders came with real bridges and great pickups like G&Ls?

Eat hearty friends. Enjoy the ones you love - the very special ones more than once! - ed