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BadgerDave

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Everything posted by BadgerDave

  1. Chris, What's the closest hotel? For some reason my memory of last year's event is spotty.
  2. I'm in. And Tom, if I see you smokin' I'm gonna kick yo ass! Smutty, can we go to that weird bowling ally bar again? The one where the waitresses ignored us and Grampa School Custodian played Hendrix?
  3. Hmmm, . . . snort . . . whu? Sorry I was napping. I'm in, can Hef score the badges?
  4. I can think of few better reasons than this to give up if you haven't made it by the time you're 38!
  5. I was working at Ward-Brodt Music in Madison, WI in 1978. Ward-Brodt was one of the first retail Hamer dealers, possibly the second after Pastore. We had four Sunbusts in stock and they were the best guitars in the store. I remember that the Hamers were selling for more than our new Les Pauls. $700 for the dot necks and an extra $50 for the bound and crowned model. Response was split. The hard core Gibson players turned up their noses at the upstart Hamers. Others recognized that these new contenders were a notch above what Gibson was putting out. I claimed a bound and crowned Sunburst immediately and it replaced a '74 SG Custom as my go-to guitar. Unfortunately, My Sunburst was one of the early 1 piece neck versions that developed a fatal twist. Frank Untermeyer graciously offered me full retail credit on anything I wanted as a replacement. I chose a cutom ordered black Standard: The Standard survived a broken headstock and served me well for about five years. I eventually sold it and switched to a series of Specials through the end of the 80s.
  6. 8:00 at Orchestra Hall. I haven't seen BB in person so I'm pretty psyched. Anyone else going?
  7. Huh? What? Sorry, I've been away. Still am, actually. Signing in from Italy, UK tomorrow.
  8. Rolex Submariner? I see Jol's tase in eyewear has improved!
  9. I'm not going to call Jack White a visionary, but he delivered a much needed kick in the a$$ to a "rock" music scene that seemed to be offering nothing more challenging than Coldplay and Bon Jovi. I'd put Jack in the same catagory as Curt Cobain. More of an instigator than an artist, but with better technical skills. Listen to "Ball and Biscuit" on the Elephant CD for some insight into what Jack is capable of on the guitar. Pretty impressive stuff.
  10. I'm sad to hear of your loss, Bill. My thoughts are with you and your family today.
  11. Interesting comment from the purveyor of the "Throne of Humiliation"!
  12. OK, 1 more. 1980 Sunburst in cherry. This is the one I will keep forever.
  13. 1984. One of the last of the original Sunburst models to be built. Possibly a custom order as it has a 1 3/4" nut.
  14. One thing you may want to consider; You can usually buy a real tweed or Blackface Fender in excellent condition for about the same price as a new Boutique clone. The next day, the Fender will be worth what you paid, the clone will be worth half to 2/3 at best. There are plenty of great BF Deluxe Reverbs, Vibrolux Reverbs and Pro Reverbs out there in the $2,000 to $2,500 range, cheaper if you don't mind changed speakers, and/or cosmetic wear. If I were buying new, I'd take a serious look at the Fender '57 RI Tweed "lo-power" Twin. It straddles the gap between Tweed and Blackface (minimal tone circuit, pull one rectifier tube to go from tweed sag to BF lesser sag). I was fortunate enough to find one used. Stunningly good tone. If they're good enough for Eric Clapton . . .
  15. Are you saying that you have all three distortion units turned on simultaniously? If so, I'd say yes, that's pretty extreme. And I can understand why you'd be getting a whole lot of hiss, noise, feedback and other extranious noises. If you're trying to get absolutely over-the-top distortion, you'd have better luck using a single pedal designed for that purpose (something with the words "Death Metal" in the name, for example), or a modeler like a POD with a heavily saturated Rect-o-verb setting. The modeler would solve your volume problem, since it would allow you to get massively overdriven sounds at very low volume levels. Remember, every OD, distortion or boost pedal you put in your signal chain will exaggerate all of the unwanted noise generated by everthing that comes before it. Distortion pedals are generally very noisy (There's no reason to spend the money to make them quiet since the undesireable noise gets masked by the desireable distortion effect) and if you have several of them in the chain, you're pretty much just amplifying noise by the time you get to the final stage. I have heard of players punching in a second distorion unit to boost solos, but having three engaged simultaniously sounds pretty uncontrollable to me.
  16. Well, if we're just talkin' favorites, I'll toss in a vote for Mountain. And one for Johnny Winter And (the Rick Derringer lineup).
  17. Maybe I'm out of touch, but what has Skynard done since '77? I realize that they are still together (sort of), but when did they last get any radio airplay or sell a significant number of units of post Ronnie Van Zant material? I'd put them in the same league as Hall & Oates. Still around, but playing small venues or warming up for other acts and living off old songs and royalties. I suspect that part of my opinion may be based on where I live. Here in Minnesota, Skynard would likely be booked as a weekday State Fair headliner or into a 2500 seat arena. I suspect they could draw a bigger crowd in southern states. I should also mention that I'm not a fan, though I will say that "Tuesday's Gone" is brilliantly written and performed.
  18. Top-of-the-head US bands I'd rank above Skynard: In addition to those already mentioned: Beach Boys Grateful Dead Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers The Cars Talking Heads Alice Cooper REM
  19. No offense intended, Matt. IMO, you're going to have a hard time finding people willing to lay out $2,000 - $4,000 for a guitar as radical as the T-bolt. To me, it doesn't look at all ergonomic, particularly with that upper horn strap button flying out above the middle of the fretboard. Just my opinion.
  20. I found that trip to be very restful, particulary the ride home. This sounds like a "must do" event. Do we all get access to the VIP Lounge?
  21. I had a chance to play the first one to arrive at Dave's for a few minutes at moderate volume. I was very impressed with the neck carve, which was moderately thick, with a very "Gibsonish" taper from heel to nut. Probably the most comfortable neck I've played in terms of feeling "right" immediately. The guitar had a very stong acoustic sound, lots of sustain and body/neck resonance. At low volumes, the pickups sounded very even, clear and "woody". I suspect these are stock or slightly modified Duncan 59's, my favorite of Seymour's designs. The top on this particular guitar was less than stunning, but it looks like the subsequent TTs to arive at Dave's are much better. I liked the light weight and the feel of the thinner body. IMO, the ergonomics of the TT are better than an L.P. This may sound petty, but one thing that prevents me from buying a TT is the Victory inlays. I'm not a fan of this design and, IMO, they look particularly inappropriate on this model. Crowns would be much more in line with the "classic" look of the TT. To me, the victories give it an over-the-top import vibe.
  22. I saw in another post that some of you have shipped guitars between the US and Europe for under $150.00. FedEx is quoting $250 - $280 for their economy air service (around 5 business days) from Minnesota to the UK, including insurance. I tend to use FedEx because UPS has broken two guitars and one amp that I've entrusted to their "care", and USPS doesn't offer any real tracking capability. Anyone have any advice on a less expensive, reliable way to get a guitar safely to Europe?
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