Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Hi gang,

Thanks to those participating in yesterdays LR. Time for day 2.

Lunch:
I post in the morning again so I have to make a guess but this would be my preference. Green Leaf is one of the popular spots in the International District. They just opened a second spot around the corner from work. Their combination #78 includes prawn-, chicken- and beef-skewers, salad, and vermicelli. But I ordered it without the latter and more salad. Still yummies.

G&L related
I got notified yesterday that 'The Wrangler' is back in Memphis to undergo the necessary repairs. It still hope it is just 2 frets that need to be (ad)dressed but we'll find out. While the damage is discussed in this post, she is still a beautiful guitar so lets show her off:


The Baltic Amber pickguard is gorgeous. I'm curious what louis things of that one. And the artwork and finish is exquisite. They certainly achieved their goal of keeping that tactile experience.



Johnny Garcia did a great job on this one. Last week his other guitars were also mentioned.There was one comment on 'The Roses' but I'll bet you that if you'd see that guitar in person and be able to touch it (there is no Nigel Tuffnel to prevent you to ), you'd be impressed.

After about 50 guitars delivered by different parcel services, this was the first where something serious has gone wrong. Not too bad of a failure rate although everybody will prefer 0%.
Q: Any of you have transportation horror stories, either self-induced or due to some other circumstance? Has it changed your preferences for shipping and/or travel? Finally bought that Calton case?

Non-G&L related
I saw Rufus Wainwright perform yesterday and he always impresses me. Just by himself this time, playing either the piano or guitar. And although my wife has seen him a couple of times too, she did not join me though because Rufus is not her thing. This 'disagreement' is more the exception than the rule but this is one of them. So nowadays I go see certain performers by myself, e.g. Rush in November and a bunch of Earshot Jazz performances later this month.

Q: Do you and your significant other share your tastes? Are there certain acts that only you like and vice versa? And if you're in band, does (s)he ever come along for a gig?

Here my absolute favorite Dutch band, now and forever: Bløf. It should come as no surprise that The Scene (featured yesterday) has been a great inspiration to this band. Their music is pretty varied; from drunken bar tunes to some pretty hard-rocking stuff. But this is just a great tune and Thé Lau (singer of the Scene) makes a guest appearance in this. And thanks to the internet I can get (almost) all of their stuff even on this side of the Atlantic.
[youtube]oG_PzU_TJpE[/youtube]

Talk to you folks later.

- Jos

I've been pretty lucky other than a very sweet Climax bass that went AWOL some years back and later turned up in the home of an ex-UPS (temporary holiday) employee. my one very sad occurrence happened with an 86 ASAT in "showroom" condition that was shipped by USPS. I don't know what happened but the picture of the box should give some indication. suffice to say the guitar was a total loss as whatever the viscous, smelly and sticky substance was, it made it's way through the case and covered almost the entire guitar. i feel bad for the guy who sold it to me as he needed the $ for car repairs so he could get to his new job. the guy made good on it but USPS was a total waste of time. also if you make a claim with them they take the item. not sure if it's the same with UPS and Fedex, but all of them are pretty much the same and getting "insurance" (limited liability, etc) from them is pretty much a joke imho.



And some Flying Nun for your listening pleasure:

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[youtube]XtmlfuEukMs[/youtube]

And one from Mushroom:

[youtube]FeKdUeb1InI[/youtube]

No severe transportation accidents here, though a case was was destroyed on a flight last year. When I had to supply a replacement price quote I used the G&L online stores ridiculous shipping prices to puch the value of the broken case up to $500. I was able to get enough money out of the airline to buy a higher quality Hiscox case for traveling. Since I've been using it I haven't had any problems, but hat's not to say the case is unbreakable, more that it just hasn't been mishandled YET.

My girlfriend likes most of the music I listen to, but not vice versa. She can even tolerate Frank Zappa, which has been a point of contention with literally all of my previous girlfriends. She recently bought a 'Best of Chicago' CD that has been living in our car for the last few weeks. I didn't think I'd get into it, but after a few listens you cant help but sing along to those big, cheesy ballads. Our favourite bit to sing if we're in the car together is this one. The bit at 1.26 with the echo/response vocal is not only fun, but IMO one of the funniest examples of music production ever
[youtube]CRfy1yorkec[/youtube]

Jos, I missed lunch at the Apple Store today but I have to say their customer service is outstanding. The hard drive was sick and I am up on a new external drive but still have to get my recording software going. At least I am operating.

The Wrangler is superb. The work on it is stellar and the pickguard is awesome. What a color. I am especially happy to say that I have not had transportation issues.

Ginny and I do not share the same musical tastes but she does like the music I do. She has attended many of our gigs and is a good source of feedback. She doesn't hide anything! Keep those pictures coming!-- Darwin

Lunch: Today I have a chicken salad sandwich with some Nando's hot peri-peri sauce thrown in to wake up my taste buds.

Shipping disasters: None so far (2 successes from 2 starts). My '85 Japanese strat came all the way from Japan with DHL and was still in tune when I opened the case. DHL's tracking system is fantastic and the estimated delivery time was accurate almost to the minute. My '95 S-500 came in a cardboard box and was very poorly packed by the seller (scrunched up newspaper is a legit protective material right?). It was sent with Australia Post to boot. I was certain Aus Post would have ruined it but they plastered Fragile stickers all over the box and it was fine.

Conflicting Musical Tastes: My wife's taste in music extends into the world of dance club/disco stuff like George Michael, Kylie Minogue, Bee Gees which sends me running from the room/car as quickly as humanly possible. Strangely, she also likes some alternative music which I would consider decent, but I can never predict ahead of time exactly what she will like or why. Neil Finn/Split Enz/Crowded House is our one narrow common area of overlap. She dislikes a fair chunk of my music collection, especially anything too rock'n'roll like AC/DC, or with too many guitar solos or riffs like Dire Straits or Radiohead.

BTW Jon C, great set of videos there! Here's a favourite Kiwi band and a favourite Aus band from around the same era:

[youtube]PfdvAVkg1X0[/youtube]

[youtube]L33mpJO2MaE[/youtube]

the girls i see rarely share my musical taste, but it is of little consequence, it's ok if they share their husband's. they have to put up with their wives more than i do. i don't usually take chicks to gigs, as their presence is a negative influence when mingling with the local talent. i usually only take the blonde long haired bitch to gigs, she stays in the car though.

the girls i see rarely share my musical taste, but it is of little consequence, it's ok if they share their husband's. they have to put up with their wives more than i do. i don't usually take chicks to gigs, as their presence is a negative influence when mingling with the local talent. i usually only take the blonde long haired bitch to gigs, she stays in the car though.

Louis -

You are a talented fellow, and I want to like you. But..... - ed

the girls i see rarely share my musical taste, but it is of little consequence, it's ok if they share their husband's. they have to put up with their wives more than i do. i don't usually take chicks to gigs, as their presence is a negative influence when mingling with the local talent. i usually only take the blonde long haired bitch to gigs, she stays in the car though.

Louis -

You are a talented fellow, and I want to like you. But..... - ed

btw, this is the blonde bitch that comes to the gigs.

Last edited by louis cyfer on Tue Oct 02, 2012 7:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I trust she's married? :=) - ed

I trust she's married? :=) - ed

the only one that isn't

Q: Any of you have transportation horror stories, either self-induced or due to some other circumstance? Has it changed your preferences for shipping and/or travel?

I've had one near-disaster, when UPS left a box containing an '86 ASAT lying in the middle of my driveway. Now I have everything shipped to a FedEx store.

My best traveler has been my Ovation Balladeer. It's been shipped across the US twice, sailed with me from San Diego to the Persian Gulf and back, spent eight winters in Maine and two dozen summers in hot, humid places like South Carolina, Maryland and Cincinnati. It plays just as well as on day one, and has never needed any setup or truss rod adjustment.

Q: Do you and your significant other share your tastes? Are there certain acts that only you like and vice versa? And if you're in band, does (s)he ever come along for a gig?

We shared a lot of musical tastes twenty-plus years ago, but now there is very little in my CD collection she will listen to. We do still agree for the most part on things we listened to years ago, but over time her tastes have gotten simpler (4/4 beat with no key changes) and mine more complex.

Ken

And just as I had expected! - ed (tee hee!)

Philby, I was actually going to post a Go Betweens song but couldn't find the version of Love Goes On that I wanted. I have a tape somewhere of a Grant and Robert show from the 90's at a club called Maxwells in Hoboken NJ. Robert Vickers played bass and it was an all-around great evening. A humorous moment happened when someone asked why Lindy Morrison wasn't there to which Grant replied "Danger In the Past." Lot's of indie bands played at Maxwells, and another show I taped was Marty Wilson Piper doing a solo set. Lots of good memories, lots of good music.

Ok, two more for the road and one of my favorite all-time "pop" songs, Pink Frost

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The wrangler is a cool looking guitar and by far the most appealing of the decorated prototypes. Shame about the transit damage but hopefully its fixable.

Q: transportation horror stories Non here. I've rarely pushased online and I've always used flight cases for gear when touring.

Q: Do you and your significant other share your (music) tastes? Yup. My wife and I met through music (she was the girlfriend of one of our early vocalists and she stayed after he left) and its continued to play a big part in our lives ever since. These days she probably only comes along to around half of our gigs but does it willingly.

Music I like the Blof track and will be seeking out more. Been a whole bunch of other great music from the 80's(ish) today. During that period I listened to a lot of Ed Kuepper and his ilk
[youtube]rgN7DoHk7Pg[/youtube]

cheers, Robbie

Last edited by Aussie on Wed Oct 03, 2012 7:49 am, edited 1 time in total.

Hi gang,

Did have much time to react to all the posts.

jonc - That is one ugly looking package. Pretty unbelievable. So far UPS has not demanded the package back, just for a a damage inspection. Their website states:
"It is essential that the shipper supplies UPS with documentation that supports the actual repair or replacement cost of the merchandise, up to the declared value, as requested in the Damage/Loss Notification claim letter. " So my understanding is that they will pay actual repair costs but no more than the declare value. We'll see. Nice vids BTW. Especially loved the little interviews with Look Blue Go Purple at beginning and end.

Jamie - Funny story. I was watching that video and thinking "We need more synthesizers, Gene" in true SNL fashion. The only strings in the whole thing are Cetera 'playing' a bass and the these things under a a snare drum. Again, where are the damn guitars!

Darwin - Hope you were in time that they could still pull data of the old drive. I once waiting a tad too long and lost a bunch of stuff. Not too much though because I'm pretty anal when it comes down to making backups. But still. Nice that Ginny comes along to the gigs!

Philby - Had totally forgotten about the Go-Betweens. That was a hit in NL too in the time.

louis - Some life you're living! Don't forget to treat 'the bitch' well tomorrow

ed - Thanks for keeping louis 'straight'

Ken - I already had heard about that box in the driveway. That's why I always want to have 'signature required'. But it forces somebody to be home which is not always preferable because you never know when these people come by. I have started to use my work address as the shipping address because there is always somebody there and I can just pick up the goods from the mail room.

Robbie - At least something with guitars from the eighties outside the genre of the the high hair bands. Made me want to listen to Big Country again.

- Jos

louis - Some life you're living! Don't forget to treat 'the bitch' well tomorrow

ed - Thanks for keeping louis 'straight'



- Jos

she gets treated like a queen. actually more like a god, as her name is shiva, so she qualifies. but she is the ultimate insurance when taking gear to gigs. i can leave stuff in the car if need be, i have offered people my keys and the opportunity to have my gear and car if they can take it. she has also stopped a few burglary attempts at my house. they got as far as tearing the screen and breaking the window.

it's a good thing ed is trying to keep me straight, as that's not too difficult. if he were trying to do the opposite, that would be much more challenging