sparquelito

Oh man. This arrived today via UPS from Portland, Oregon. Zach Smith of Valley Guitars did a great job of packing and shipping, and also with truth in advertising. It's just as described, which is fantastic. A great guitar. I love it. I sold two guitars and a fretless bass in order to own this beauty. I'll post fresh photos from my home here, tonight or tomorrow. https://reverb.com/item/68818496-gibson-les-paul-special-double-cutaway-2015-vintage-sunburst 🙂

I wonder if that same company can make the passenger cabin portion of airliners. 🫠

By golly, you are right, sir!!

I've only been to NYC on two occasions, but I visited The Dakota (and Strawberry Fields) both times. 🥲

I had to be emotionally ready to give the updated AI version a listen. Almost didn't listen, but I finally gave in. It's good. But somehow sacrilegious. I'm a lot more drawn to the two songs that Jeff Lynne produced for the Anthology albums in the mid 1990's. Free As A Bird and Real Love. Jeff was given cassette tapes containing rough demo's that John had recorded many years earlier. They were literally John's voice singing over unfinished songs on piano or guitar. Recorded at The Dakota, the apartment building where John was eventually murdered, two songs emerged as good candidate to be made into 'Beatles' songs. Jeff Lynne had quite a chore in the studio. He had to take rough, hissing cassette demos, extract John's voice, finish writing the songs, record the surviving Beatles singing and playing instruments over John's voice, and time-synch everything. All analog, cutting tape and everything. Would Jeff Lynne use AI technology if it made the job easier? Probably. 😐

That's the first I have heard of this vehicle computer chip thing, ksdaddy. I have honestly never heard of such a thing. Now, to speaking the truth, I am all too happy to do that. Here are some truths; * If you are out on a dinner or lunch date with your wife, and you are NOT an emergency room physician on call, leave your cell phone in the glove box. Really, truthfully. Leave your cell phone in the vehicle. That demonstrates to her that she means more to you than whoever might text you that you are their BFF, LOL, or whatever other bull$#it nonsense that normally occurs with a cell phone. * Tone is mostly in your fingers. Really. That's the truth. A good player can make adjustments for wood and pickups and other variables, but it's mostly in your own hands and fingers. * Life is short and death is long. Nobody in the history of man has ever lived forever. Live the rest of your life like there are fewer days ahead of you than behind you, and you will make wiser choices, and you will make the most of the days you have left. and, * Beer and bacon. Proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. I'm gonna shut up now. 🤔

No sir. I don't do certain substances. But I am known to drink quite a few cold beers every evening, after I'm safely at home. 🙂

Just working on my 4th cup of coffee. I had driven down to Destin, FL on Thursday for a weekend gathering/family reunion, and then drove home yesterday evening. My brother and I entertained a large crowd of family and friends in the penthouse of the condo where everyone stayed. We pushed guitars, bass, and vocal mic's into a small mixer, and then so into a single Mackie Thump powered PA speaker. It was a good crowd and a good sound. And a great practice for some upcoming gigs here locally in June, September, and December. I played mainly my old Tele, and also an Ibanez acoustic electric. (I really didn't relish taking the Les Paul BFG down there and subjecting it to salt air.) A good time was had by all. Well. Except for that during my drive home yesterday, I hit a buzzard on I-65, just north of Greenville, and had to clean blood and $hiit off of the windshield. And then, two hours later, I got pulled over and searched by two law enforcement types, somewhere near Montevallo. They were apparently looking for somebody driving a white panel van who might have committed some sort of crime. Or so I gathered. But I wasn't the guy. So there's that. 😐

Reverb is the platform, the marketplace where buyers and sellers can do business. You don't do business with Reverb, you do business with a private person or music shop somewhere out there. Reverb is like the dating service that brings you together. The one thing I really like with Reverb is (and I have bought a lot of gear via their pipeline) that you can rate the person who sold you gear, and they can rate you. The higher your rating, the more the next buyer or seller will trust you to do good business. Here is my ratings summary, and my marks for being a good buyer, not a good seller. (I haven't sold anything via reverb, though the day is young yet.) https://reverb.com/shop/johns-shop-2783/feedback# A busy seller will have dozens and dozens of reviews for their performance as a seller. OP, Narwhal6, I would not give the California pedal seller very high marks at all! 🤨

https://www.facebook.com/premierguitar/videos/joe-walsh-on-selling-jimmy-page-his-1-les-paul/3122830147951200/

Jimmy Page’s 1959 Les Paul “Number 1”. Bought it in 1969 from Joe Walsh. Remarkable in that it has been used on nearly every recording session of Jimmy’s long and storied career since then. Bernie Marsden’s 1959 Les Paul, “The Beast” Marsden bought the guitar from Mark Henderson who had bought it from Andy Fraser, from the band Free. Fraser, in turn, had bought the guitar from Paul Kossoff, who had bought it from Eric Clapton. Joe Bonamassa is fond of borrowing The Beast, and playing gigs with it. Peter Frampton’s 1954 Black Beauty “Phenix” guitar, given to him by his friend Marc Mariana (after Peter’s ES335 plagued him with howling feedback during Humble Pie’s opening night at the Filmore West in 1970). Peter’s main guitar for many years, until it was lost in a plane crash in November of 1980, and assumed lost forever. The story of how it turned up 30 years later is both incredible and well known to all fans of guitar music. The Eric Clapton/George Harrison red “Lucy” Les Paul. Originally owned by John Sebastian, who sold it to Rick Derringer. Rick’s dad didn’t like the original beat-up gold top finish and Rick wasn’t fond of the stock Bigsby. Rick took the guitar to Gibson to be refinished in a transparent red (like the Gibson SG’s of the day). The finish and stock tail piece caused the guitar to sound different to him, so he sold it to Eric Clapton, who later gifted it to George Harrison. Peter Green/Gary Moore/Kirk Hammett 1959 Les Paul “Greeny” Jeff Beck’s 1959 Les Paul, sold to him in 1968 by Rick Nielsen Neil Young’s “Old Black”, sold to him in 1968 by Jim Messina Mark Knopfler’s ……… So. The question remains, are these legendary guitars really exceptional instruments, and vastly better than your Les Paul over here, and infinitely more ethereal and Heaven-sent than my Les Paul over there? Or are they just normal guitars with interesting back-stories who fell into the hands of musicians who became celebrities, and were later used by accomplished celebrity musicians, and so certain exceptionally interesting legends were born? Really. How different can this collection of wood and steel and paint be from that one over there? If The Beast were hanging on the wall at your local pawn shop, and you played it thru the nearest Peavey amplifier available, would it blow you away with its innate awesomeness? Or would it to you, you not knowing the back story, sound like any other Les Paul? Is my car any better because it was previously owned by the brother in law of actor Jack Nicholson? Is it slightly less interesting because I bought it from a guy who bought it from a guy who bought it from the guy who used to play keyboards for Dexys Midnight Runners? I’m gonna shut up now, and let you offer your thoughts and opinions. 😐

I'd hit that. 😗

Last year, when I was still working out on the Army airfield, I was fond of cooking breakfast for myself after a good cardio swim. My young friends in Operations would benefit, of course. I would always make more than enough, and I would share with them. One time I made a nice stir fry using some sauteed onions and peppers, mushrooms, white rice, Turkey Spam, egg, and shredded cheddar. Just the best stuff ever. I ate, the fellows ate, and all was good. I still had quite a bit of stir-fry leftover in the skillet when one of our female engineers came by on her way to her test aircraft, and we issued her a headset. "Wow. Something smells good in here. What did you guys cook?" "Ah, some healthy stir fry. There's some leftover, do you want to finish it?" "I don't know. Lemme see it." Our engineer was a healthy and fit person, and picky about what went into her body. She followed one of our young fellows back to the galley, and apparently liked what she saw. She happily consumed a nice bowl of the stir fry, by all accounts, and departed for her mission. Later on while doing dishes, the young feller asked me, "Hey, Sparky. What's tofu? Did you fry up something called tofu into that breakfast skillet?" "Tofu? It's like congealed bean curd or soy product, I think. Vegans eat it. No, I didn't use any tofu in that recipe." "Well, that engineer was real happy that you cooked tofu into the breakfast. She tore it up, man!" I scratched my head. And then I pondered the fact that Turkey Spam is a pale, off-white colour, and looks nothing like the usual Spam. I laughed. "She thought the Turkey Spam was tofu. Oh well. She liked it, and ate it happily." "Are you gonna tell her she ate Spam after she lands later on?" "Heck no. Beggars can't be choosers." He grinned. "Yeah, I guess you're right." Good times. 😗

All my thoughts and prayers, MP. He was lucky to have you in his life, and he in yours. 😔

All's well that ends well! 😃

What in the wide, wide world o' sports is a goin' on here?

Such a great, quality job!! Congrats. Kudos. Laudatory expressions of praise!! 😀

I was up fairly early this morning, watching on this computer. Fascinating to me, really. I'm not terribly familiar with all the politics and antics and shenanigans of the Royals, the ex-Royals, and all the strap hangers and reprobates involved with the Royal Family, quite honestly. Not beyond what I see in headlines that I normally ignore on the computer news feeds. (Well. Except for Prince Andrew. I have close friends who attended a dinner where he was the 'honorable host' to a world championship of helicopter flying, back in the 1980's. My friends reported that he was an arrogant, pompous, abusive A$$hole, and everyone there hated him. Especially the kitchen staff.) I have served with quite a few British Exchange Officers over the years. and I always respected their reverence for the Queen. And more recently, their sadness at the passing of Her Majesty. The history and time-honored ceremonies and rituals I watched this morning though. Really interesting to me. 🤨

Agreed. Refinished. Agreed also, a clumsy attempt by some previous owner to fill in or enhance the serial number figures. Which is tragic, because it only brings into question the authenticity of the guitar, and therefore devalues the whole kit and caboodle. The tuning pegs/machine head GIBSON DELUXE back covers look brand new as well. Not a good or authentic look for a 1967 guitar. If I were a prospective buyer, those two elements alone would cause me to hard pass on it. 😔

What I found from digging around the inter-webs: Zen-On (全音, meaning perfect or complete sound) was a little known Japanese guitar manufacturer located in Suwa, Japan. They also made ukuleles and bass guitars, but mostly 'classical' six string guitars. Around mid 60's Zen-On merged with Hayashi Gakki, another prominent instrument maker in Japan at the time. Zen On made guitars to meet demand at all levels, beginners to advance concert models. The Tarrega brand was a mid range guitar. Gibsun was a slightly more posh instrument, apparently. High concert level guitars were said to be signed by the luthier. Zen On also built and distributed Morales branded guitars, as well as Abe and Decca. Until Godzilla attacked the mainland and pulled the spitting high tension wires down. 🤨

This is true, and it was especially so in the early days of the Simmons' kits. The drum pads and cymbals alike were hard rubber over the electronic triggers, and hitting them was unnatural, like boinking onto hard plastic. It's a lot better now, and the drums (snare, toms) all have tight mesh heads. The drum sticks bounce nicely and naturally off of them. The cymbals are still an issue, but those are easily adapted to. The plusses definitely outweigh the minuses, in my humble opinion. 😐