Looking for advice from Bay-area folks

[Granny Gremlin]

I'll be in San Fran for my honeymoon next month and am looking for advice on what to get up to.

We've already spoken to people about some things to check out and some cool restaurants (more suggestions welcome), but I'm wondering if some of you fine folks could give me the lowdown on good local (used) gear shops (guitar/bass/drums/recording).  Also, I wonder if there's any live music (or other shows I guess) worth checking out, specifically on the nights of Sept 15-18 and the 26th.

edit: dates corrected

[Barklessdog]

If you can get out of San Fran for a day or so, go to the National Redwood Forrest. It's absolutely amazing.

http://www.shannontech.com/ParkVision/Redwood/Redwood.html

[Granny Gremlin]

Oh, don't worry - the hole in the dates I gave is one big camping road trip loop down from San Fran thru Big Sur, Sequoia, Death Valley, Yosemite and back again.

[Barklessdog]

That will be waaay better than S.F., which I find kind of a tourist town. Fun for a couple of days though.


Just check where the forest fires are so you can avoid that.

[Granny Gremlin]

Yeah, definately looking forward to all that, but one of my favoraite vacation things to do is cruise the local gear shops.  Now unless there's a guy running a shop out of a hollowed out sequoia tree, then I'll have to do that in the city.

Forest fires are not something I'm worried about as we're not doing anything really back-country, though I guess there's a risk of some campsites being closed.  Also, the smoke may be toxic  :

http://somesou.com/2008/08/08/40-million-in-marijuana-found-in-sequoia-national-forest/

[Barklessdog]

With the fires, it's more the smoke of the annoyance - horrible air quality, plus places being shut down. You won't really know what the situation is where till you get there or really close to your trip.

[TBird1958]

Jake,

 If your travels take you through Seattle let me know - Congratulations once again! 

 

[Granny Gremlin]

Unfortuneately they won't (this time) ... we were considering a quick jaunt down there when we went to BC for vacation last summer, but we didn't have the time; it was a bit further away then we originally thought. 

[Dave W]

I've never been to California at all, but you'll have to visit Fatdawg at Subway Guitars in Berkeley: http://www.fatdawg.com/

[pamlicojack]

You're going on your honeymoon and you're worried about gear shops

My wife would have killed me had I gone looking at shops while I was on mine.     

[Lightyear]

  Death Valley

I made a day trip to Death Valley in March - I won a trip to Vegas from work and decided to rent a car go to Death Valley to kill a day.  It was fantastic but IIRC it is THE hottest spot in North America!!  I spent about five hours looking around - I didn't hike much but did get out of the car often.  If you plan on spending much time outside make sure you are well prepared - big hat, proper footgear, water, sunblock etc.  There is a nice looking motel that I saw in the middle of the park if you're interested - nothing fancy but it looked pretty decent from the outside - probably pricey though

You do know about the 3 to 1 rule in marriage don't you?  If you get a toy that costs $100 your wife gets something that costs $300!  Honest!  That jewel of Tbird you find might cost you $5K in the long run

Congrats on the nuptials

[Granny Gremlin]

I made a day trip to Death Valley in March - I won a trip to Vegas from work and decided to rent a car go to Death Valley to kill a day.  It was fantastic but IIRC it is THE hottest spot in North America!!  I spent about five hours looking around - I didn't hike much but did get out of the car often.  If you plan on spending much time outside make sure you are well prepared - big hat, proper footgear, water, sunblock etc.  There is a nice looking motel that I saw in the middle of the park if you're interested - nothing fancy but it looked pretty decent from the outside - probably pricey though

You do know about the 3 to 1 rule in marriage don't you?  If you get a toy that costs $100 your wife gets something that costs $300!  Honest!  That jewel of Tbird you find might cost you $5K in the long run

Congrats on the nuptials

Thanks.

Yeah, Death Valley is the only place in the list above where we won't be camping, only driving through with a few stops (taking the scenic route from Sequoia to Yosemite).  I hear it's not only shit hot all day, but f*** cold at night.

I hope to go where no man has gone before as regards the 3:1 rule.  Things look promising in this regard: for my wedding present to her, she has asked me to build her some custom speakers (she hated her old 3-way, 15" woofer Technics because they were too big for her concept for the new living room - "we no longer live in a student appartment" - and made me sell them off a couple months ago despite my protests).

What do I get?  I've been looking to buy a mixing console and she's decided that's what I'll get (that's gotta be 3:1 in my favour easy).

I kinda win on both counts there.    The drive units came in the mail last week, and I just finished the design last night.  Let me tell you, designing a speaker is tough enough with all the trade offs that must be made, but when a woman's aesthetic demands are thrown into the mix it gets really tough. 

Thanks for the tip Dave - that just might work out for me as I seem to recall Dana wanting to check something out in Berkley.