sparquelito

I'm sure this has been done before, but if so, I can't find it in a search of the forum's archives. What's the background or back-story of your avatar image? Some of you have a photo there of your favorite guitar, or a screenshot from a memorable movie, and I get that. One or two of us use an image of ourselves from some past gig or performance. A handful of you though; Very interesting and thought-provoking images you have there. Do tell all. 🙂

Oh man. Very sad. Sorry for my earlier posting (now deleted). I foolishly read the few opening postings and responses, and never even noticed that the thread was six or seven years old. I gotta pay more attention!! 🙁

That is gorgeous! And I like that your G & L is in a G and G case. Neat! 🙂

This isn't rocket surgery, after all. 🤔

..... let's see if anyone bites. What do you want to bet that somebody tries to give me $20 for the pair of them? 😉 https://huntsville.craigslist.org/msg/d/madison-great-guitar-cases/7290717330.html

This one seems reasonably priced. The shipping from Massachusetts would probably be double what's listed there though. 🙂 https://reverb.com/item/13264701-kramer-forum-iii-bass-80-s-black

I don't know what it is, or even how to describe it. It's like the forum is just odd. Quirky. Unconventional. You never know what's going on inside its head, or whether it was loved as a child. Freud would like want to know if it was breast-fed or held enough by its mother. Anyway. I just hope there's nothing dangerous lurking under the forum's otherwise staid, bland exterior. 😬

Steve Vai seems like such a nice guy. Amazing what he plays with just his fretting hand, in the last third of the video. And the painful ending there, that was both hilarious and cringe-worthy. 😉

A limerick, in honor of this occasion. *ahem* 🤨 There once was a man named rct who played excellent guitar, you see Seymour Duncan made his pickups and just so there were no screw-ups He went Custom Shop, for a small fee 😬

I keep US and Metric sockets, just in case. My crescent wrenches work on both, as it turns out. Here are the prices I found for the Murphy Lab jobbies. I don't know what regular Gibson Custom Shop guitars go for, so I can say whether these are higher or lower. They seem to range from $4,200 to $10,500. https://www.gibson.com/Guitars/Collection/the-gibson-murphy-lab

I flew an evening training flight with an awesome friend, a local Active Duty gal. She flew brilliantly. Night tasks complete. 🙂

Kramer Pacer made right around 1990. Manufactured not in Japan or New Jersey, but rather the Czech Republic. The Drop Tuna-style thingamabob was made in cooperation with ESP. 🙂

A good memory about drummers. Me and drummer Bob were playing a private party at an outdoor venue this one time. No bass player available, so I packed a Crate amp that had the option of a bass octaving feature, so we went ahead and played the gig. It was cold as hell outside on that club house veranda, and the host had all these outdoor propane heaters set up. (Actually, my avatar is from that job, so you can see one of the heaters there behind me.) This had to have been 2012 or 2013. Anyway, we played set after set, and though a lot of the crowd stayed inside the clubhouse where the food and wine and beers were, a great number of guests stayed out on the veranda with us, and rocked out. My wife was there, taking photos with her Nikon camera, and enjoying some beverages. (She still drank back then.) We had a lot of people on the dance floor, and a good time was rolling. One friend got up and sang a few songs with us, and the crowd was digging it. At one point, one of the ladies dancing with her hubby and some friends danced her way up to my mic stand, as I sang something she really liked, and she began to shimmy and flirt. And I must confess two things right now; a. She was a stunningly beautiful woman, very sexy and, b. My wife was having none of it. She was off to the side with her camera, and glaring at the shimmying chick with all her might. I laughed like hell and carried on with the performance. Bob and I played a couple more dance-able tunes, and then took a break to enjoy some beers. I hugged my wife and asked her, "So, how did you like that set?" She grumbled, "It was good, but I thought I was going to have to peel that ***** off of you at one point." Bob snickered, and said, “Don’t worry, Beth. She was only coming on to him so she could hook up with the drummer eventually.” I agreed. “Yep. Drummers get all the girls.” Good times. 😑 I sure do miss Bob. He passed away from cancer just three years ago.

The original question is a fair one, but the answers will always be found to be relative to a subjective feeling regarding certain memories, ownership, years of gigging with one or the other, a borrowing, and/or something we saw played on stage at some point in history. I don't think there is an objective, scientific standard regarding the relative merits of an old Gibson SG versus a brand new Gibson Les Paul Modern. But there are such standards when comparing a 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air versus a 2021 Chevrolet Malibu. Any reasonable man of science would hasten to separate the romance of nostalgia and boutique valuations from the hard facts of demonstrated, measurable, repeatable performance. I tend to lean toward the opinions of a man like rct who spent years gigging and playing everything under the sun, but also value the viewpoint of Larsongs who brings a slightly different take on the subject. As for myself, I'm not much help here. The oldest Gibson Les Paul I ever owned was from the early 1970's, and I sold it when I went off to the Army, just because my future ex-wife convinced me that we needed the money. The lesson here? a. Don't ever sell an old Gibson Les Paul and, b. Don't ever marry anyone who would have you sell a really boss 1971 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe gold-top, in order to finish off the car payments for a 1974 Ford Pinto. Okay, I'm gonna shut up now. 😔

The problem with Radiohead is that they don't realize that people need some bossa nova rhythms every now and then. Here's my take on their biggest hit. It's just me an my ancient Yamaha keyboard. Enjoy. 😬 https://chirb.it/eykkOP

I have the Beat Buddy Mini, with the accessory foot pedal. I like it. On the main module you can select/activate the song style, variations, and tempo. Volume too. One foot tap on the go-button gets it started, and then after that, one foot tap adds a fill. One long foot press transitions over to a chorus deviation, usually with ride cymbal, and then so back to the main rhythm. Two foot taps ends each rhythm with a flourish ending. On the accessory foot pedal you can add a crash cymbal effect, or even mute the output. Each drum pattern has it's own 'intro', and that temporary mute button can be just the thing, in case their factory intro doesn't suit the song. It's really useful for working on songs when the drummer can't come over. I suppose that if you were really well-practiced up on it, you could go do gigs without a drummer. But then again without a drummer, who would spill beer all over the back of the stage, and then go home with all the chicks? 😉

I worked outside in the back woods, the yard, and in the garden. Just about all day. A gorgeous day it was. I also cranked up the Beat Buddy and sussed-out AC DC's You Shook Me All Night Long, in the music room. Man, that was a fun romp. 😬

I'm not that well-read on the Epiphone Zakk Wylde Les Pauls. The white and black bullseye and the camo bullseye should have gold hardware, I recall that much. The white and black bullseye was made from 2003 to 2010 in the original configuration. Buzzsaw pattern, chrome hardware, 2005 to 2008. Camo pattern, 2005 to 2010. I hear conflicting reports on when the production moved from Korea to China. The one comforting bit of news is that there isn't much profit margin in counterfeiting an Epiphone, though there is a larger one for faking a Gibson Zakk Wylde. 😬

And it goes without saying, the Tone Knobs are a Les Paul's secret weapon. 😉

Brad, The Firebird and Explorer aren't mine. I just hunted down a representative photo of each, to post as a lark, for that posting to our Irish brother swampash. If I make it to 70, I hope to have one of each. 😌

I admire the Gibson Flying V and those who can rock them. As for me, it's just never captured my attention. I can't say exactly why that is. I think maybe that I have the impression that if you strap on a Flying V, you had better be bringing some blistering rock solos and some smoldering blues leads. I'm a really good rhythm player and all around musician and singer, but my lead-guitar skills are average at best. I can bring it, but only that which suits the song. And I practice it to the nth degree without a plan for improvisation. So, to summarize....................... I'm not worthy. 😬

I'm thinking that for your 60th birthday, the holy trinity should be joined by the unholy duo. Then you'd have The Purgatory Quintilla. 😜

Excellent!! That gal is a keeper. 🙂

Message Gibson, using this link. Lay out the question, simply and in very few words. They'll get back with you in a day or so, and all will become revealed. https://www.gibson.com/Support/Contact 🙂

Brer mihcmac, That is a quite a jam, and a technological feat. I admire you. I just want to know what's going on back here. 🤔