Here's the first progress pic of the Stambaugh. I'm looking for suggestions on a pickguard shape. It'll be black one ply. If anyone wants to photoshop some ideas, that'd be mighty kind.
I should add that the pickguard should encompass the pickup ideally.
Your cousin is George Porter Jr. of the Meters? That explains your profile pic. I think the last time I saw him play was at one of the gathering of the vibes festivals maybe ten years ago. Seems like he's still riding the hippie circuit since then. How's he getting along with Zig these days? Those two are like peanut butter and jelly. Hoping they team up again some day.
I started on drums before bass and Bonham was my guy. The first CDs I saved up to buy was the Zep box set with the crop circles on it. Lots of good music and a bunch of stuff that wasn't in regular radio rotation. It's impossible not to associate the band with my adolescence.
Hey maybe after your son exhausts his passion for early blues he'll make the logical progression to classic rock and Zep and start playing a Les Paul, or maybe he'll rekindle his rebellious streak and start playing Slayer on his banjo like this guy!
No sweat. I was thinking about GHS because I think Dave mentioned either he or a friend like them. I see that the precision flats are only offered in a somewhat lighter gauge than I would normally use on a short scale. Brite flats come in a nice .049 to .108 gauge. I might try those, smooth enough to baby those old frets but with a little more edge than just a pure flat.
I had the La Bella FL set on my EB3 before I switched back to chromes. They were very easy to play and bend, I took them off because I thought the E sounded dead. I'm starting to get tired of the chromes on the EB3 now though because the bridge pickup sounds more honky than the LaBs which were much more punchy. I might try the La Bellas again or maybe ghs precision flats. I think even the FM gauge La Bellas would be fine tension wise.
Your dad liked the screaming part of that song? That seems strange, maybe it's because the melody to that part is almost an inverted version of the Ride of the Valkyries.
I was weaned on Zep and Yes too. Stairway is more of a smash hit run into the ground by fm radio. I know what you mean about insufferable vocals. Care for "Child in Time" anyone?
I don't see why these guys thought they needed to get Bonzo and Plant. They should have kept playing this stuff and maybe then that god awful stairway song would have never been written, saving us all the aggravation of trying to assign meaning to those senseless lyrics. The song doesn't mean anything. It sold records and that's what mattered. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5c1xdqfDKPk&list=PL2A18632F81325A9F&index=13