Skol

[Granny Gremlin]

So, it's that time again - it's been about 5 years so the fam is heading to Poland (it'll be my daughter's first time, but I doubt my son remembers much).  Since my folks will be there for the first bit as well, we were going to dump the kids and take off on a secondary trip without them.  The first idea was somewhere Mediterranean, but then my wife got nervous about being that far from the kids (no direct flights) so.... Copenhagen, where she has some family. 

Now I don't remember if any of the brothers are actually from there, but I know some of you have been there, so what's the scoop?

- cool gear shops (used rather than new stuff; pawn shops even)
- best tartare steak (I have this habit of trying a tartare everywhere I go, and apparently it is a thing in Danish cuisine - I also look forward to the stinky fish)?  Or eatieries generally.
- anything else?

We're only there for a few days.  Staying in Christianshavn.

[Dave W]

Safe travels.

[Granny Gremlin]

Thanks Dave.

[Rob]

Sounds great Jake

[Highlander]

Dzien dobry and enjoy being a Europhile for a week or two Jake and family, even though still a bit south of us... the Tartare and Zappa-fish is allllll yours... Polish... officially the UK's second language...

[Basvarken]

Enjoy the trip!

[Granny Gremlin]

Dzien dobry and enjoy being a Europhile for a week or two Jake and family, even though still a bit south of us... the Tartare and Zappa-fish is allllll yours... Polish... officially the UK's second language...

Oh, you know I want the stinky fish too.  The UK was our first stop after leaving Poland.  My dad had an uncle there who'd fought in the war as part of those unit composed of Polish ex-pats.

As a kid this pic of Mick Jones, Don Letts and crew, ostensibly after an early Big Audio Dynamite gig at a London-area Polish community centre / legion hall (aka SPK), was such a great thing to see and one that I could never explain to my friends.  Years later my local SPK became one of the coolest part time indie rock / punk venues.

[Highlander]

I used to visit quite a few of those community centres and churches along the western corridor of London... was he based at Northolt...? Where the PWM is located...? There was a Spitfire gate-guardian there for decades, resplendent with the Polish quad marker...

[Granny Gremlin]

I started writing a reply and then noticed you said 'quad' where my brain read 'squad' - is the marker you speak of that 4 squares in a square thing, or was that just a typo... or both and best accidental pun ever? 

And there goes the thread... I guess I'll just have to make like the Groupe de Chasse polonaise and pre-emptively engage Uwe and his Messerschmitts with my horribly outclassed (and officially withdrawn from duty for that exact reason)  Caudron C714s, surprising everyone by not being completely decimated, and actually shooting a good few Luftwaffe units down.

[Highlander]

As if I'd ever make a mistake with WWII aircraft recognition...

[Granny Gremlin]

That's the symbol alright.  I think my mom first drew it for me, and as an easily bored schoolboy I often doodled it in notebook margins and extrapolated the pattern. 

So in a rather odd turn of events the Hessian has refused to take the bait.  Good, cuz that's all I had when it comes to WWII fighter info.

[uwe]

For the record: Polish forces fought valiantly in 1939 (and in the years following as part of other Allied Armies or in the uprisings in 1943 and 1944), even German sources stated that at the time. Unfortunately, none of that respect transpired into German occupation of and rule over Poland 1939-44 which was draconian even by Nazi standards (and only comparable to the occupation and war crimes in Russia).

If you are interested in art, Jake, and have the time, then take a look at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art

https://en.louisiana.dk/

just outside of the city. Definitely worth the trip!

[Granny Gremlin]

Thanks for the tip!

[Granny Gremlin]

So we ended up checking out Louisiana - great tip; awesome joint.  Turns out that Jordana's Aunt (actually second cousin or whatever, but much older than us) is a member there.

But more importantly, it turns out that Copenhagen has some cool gear.  I popped in on 2 shops in one afternoon (close in proximity).  First was 4Sound, which from what I could tell was the major store for all things new. They had the expected things.  Checked out some Fender Duosonics (an old bandmate had a 70s Bronco, same but bridge pup only, and I loved that thing), but as my primary focus is Gibson(esque) basses, I was drawn to the newish Ibanez Artcore Vintage which we've discussed recently (like the thin matte finish, not so hot on the reliced dings but it's not a show stopper; the aged nickel hardware is pretty cool).  It plays real nice and I was able to flesh out a new lick I came up with the day before when traveling to our out of town activities.  If you see one for a good price I recommend taking the plunge. They also had the requisite Epi TBirds (one of the tobacco bursts was a proper neck thru; assumed the Gothic was too but didn't check).  The Gretsch looked nice but didn't touch it (everything had ask for assistance signs on it and so I didn't wanna bother cause that is so out of my price range).  I tried out that same Gretsch later when I popped into a store in Krakow; surprisingly useful (for practice) acoustic tone; but between the non-ideal setup and the stock rounds it was a bit buzzy mid-neck.





Considering how hot the Bonamassa Sig Firebird I reissue is (mostly sold out in Canada; limited Edition), I had to check out the one they had when I spotted it.  I was underwhelmed; plays great but not as resonant and sustainy as the bolt on Duosonics I played.  Coulda been a bad one, but def a play before buy sort of thing. Love the banjo tuners tho (the Steinberger tuners that recent Gibson FBrids have had can blow goats).


Then there was this awesome weirdo:


Next it was off to Woodstock Guitars for a look at more vintage fare.  Boy was that a trip.  Right off the bat there was a 70s (series 2) Gibson EB3 in the window (not a crazy price either; lower than a few things inside that I thought should not be worth as much... I guess mudbucker equipped instruments can be hard to move; you love it or hate it).


Then inside we had a recent TBird IV (those pickups and bridge look so wrong) as well as a vintage 1964 TBird II (I had to stick my hand through a cage to take the shot; damn right you gotta protect that sexy girl).


Some other cool shit they had; Mosrite Ventures Bass, Dan Armstrong lucite bass, A nice matching pair of fireglo Rics as well as a nice mapleglo 360.








Then there were a couple things that I'd never seen or heard of before on account of them never being imported to NA.  A Baum guitar (modern; made in Denmark; they had 2 different ones) and a London City 4x12 in super cool green tolex that had just been sold but not picked up yet (made in Holland; loaded with vintage Celestions and larger than a typical 4x12 so probably better for bass).







Some of those prices are actually not bad (when converting to C$), so some of you Northern Euro members may want to snag a deal if the conversion is in your favour and the shipping not too bad.

[Dave W]

Some nice-looking vintage gear at the second place. I still like the looks of Mosrites but don't find them playable.