Archive for December, 2013

 

As I told you boys and girls this website drchucksgearrants would include many available things that might be labeled topicality.

 

 

Food and drink are not quite up there with “all things guitar and gear” but really do indeed qualify as they are part or the overall recipe. And speaking of recipes I have a great easy one for chicken on the grill indeed!! So as we celebrate this holiday season let us behold good food, good, drink, and a Fender Strat. Merry Christmas!!! My choice weapon for the evening is my 1990 Fender Stratocaster Plus which I purchased new and is in clean, mint condition. You could eat your dinner off this guitar it is so clean, but of course the barbequed chicken would probably slide off on to the floor so I don’t think it might be a good idea. I also hope you like my Christmas tree. As one of my guests said;… “Nice! Hey man, you go all out!!!”..hahahahaha!!!! 

 

 

Tonight is about guitars, spirits, and beautifully marinated chicken roasted to perfection on the grill.

I know you might consider the close ups of my chicken breasts either most beautiful or quite disgusting. I would like to set the moment straight in that as I totally appreciate PETA and the Vegans. However tonight,….. this is about uhh,… guitars, spirits, and beautifully marinated chicken roasted to perfection on the grill despite that it is below freezing outside. As they say at the beginning of many programs; “Possible  Disturbing Content. Parental Advisement Advised”.  And so this is the disclaimer; “If you don’t like recipes for cooked animal flesh, move on at this “pernt”. If not; BEHOLD my very simply and effective knock out approach to barbeque roasted chicken that will knock you and your guests off their collective heels!!!

 

Anything can be parted out now a days; guitars, cars, and chickens……

This can be done with any type of animal flesh AKA meat, but it works especially well with chicken. Any chicken part will do but I prefer split breasts and thighs as my favorites. Can you imagine that the Industrial SCAVENGERS not only part out guitars, (??!!! ) they also part out CHICKENS!??!!! YESS!!!! Breasts, thighs, wings, legs, backs, Fender Stratocasters, and hopefully not quite so soon, you and me to make SOYLENT GREEN!!!  Yipes!!!!!

 

 

Question this? Yes they do!! In fact ANYthing that can be parted out for a profit can and will be done, and you guys might have thought this concept was only limited to motor vehicle Chop Shops, yeah??!! Well, it even gets worse. I f you are in a “T”Turd World or a  “T”urd and a Third World country, your body parts might be parted out as well, and against you will, however,… I told all of you that I will keep this discussion NON Political as promised on my Blog and that is where I will leave that horrible note, okay?

 

 EXTREMELY SIMPLE  but TOTALLY KICK ASS  chicken marinade.

And so we get back to my EXTREMELY SIMPLE  but TOTALLY KICK ASS  chicken marinade that you can concoct while also playing your favorite guitar be it a beloved Fender Stratocaster,…  or another…..

 

This is like one of those diets they tell you that you don’t have to count calories because with this recipe you don’t have to cut or measure ANYTHING!!! And each time it will come out slighthly different but always BEAUTIFUL!! Trust me.

 

MMMmmmmm got my chicken ready to go.

 

Here is the “secret” recipe;….

 

 Every batch of marinade will taste slightly different but you will indeed love each batch.

 Get your chicken that you want to cook and clean. Once clean get one of those hug gallon Zip Lock type bags and load the chicken. Add the following ingredients and it doesn’t matter how much or how little as you simply cannot make a mistake. Yes!!! Every batch of marinade will taste slightly different but you will indeed love each batch and the only regret will be that you did not write down to millileter what generated the exact mix. It ALWAYS comes out great unless you GREATly over indulge in a particulira ingredient.

 

Okay so here it is.

 

Once you have your chicken parts in said Zip Lock bag ( note that you can also do this for a complete chicken, oven stuffer, or Turkey utilizing one of those  roasting bags realily available, you add the following ingredients as much or as little as you want.

 

I find that a few Miller 64’s helps me with the amount of anything that I want to add Emeril Lagasse style “BAM” and get thus get the juices rolling toward a great crop of barbeque roasted chicken.

 

Okay you have your chicken in the bag.

 

Add these easily available over the counter ingredients and remember that is does not count how much. Experiment!!!

 

1)      Balsamic vinegar

2)      Black Pepper

3)      Hot red pepper  ( BE careful!!! )

4)      A “shot” or two of oil. Your choice. Avoid Castrol GTX as it smokes a bit, and Mobil 1 never boils!

I prefer Canola.

        5)   Basil   

        6) Oregano

        7) Garlic in ANY form that you can get it. Fresh crushed is the best but 99 Cent “Spice Aisle” Garlic powder also WORKS!!

        8) Your favorite barbeque sauce.

 

Mix the ingredients as your Miller 64 and either cheap Scotch or expensive Single Malt dictates  to the voices in your head.

That’s it. If you can find an ingredient called McCormick Grill Mates MONTREAL CHICKEN SEASONING, go for it and add a “dash”.  Great stuff, but without it you will still be a “star”, trust me!!

Also trust me that if you at least have ANY of the above ingredients and mix the ingredients as your Miller 64 and either cheap Scotch or expensive Single Malt dictates to the voices in your head you really cannot lose!!!! You can also add a shot of scotch and a bit of beer if you want. Very flexible and so this recipe really beckons you to experiment. I prefer to let this marinade soak in for about 24 hours but even just a few hours is fine.

 

Any type of grill be it gas, electric, or charcoal will do.

Once you are ready to cook, fire up and pre heat your grill. Any type of grill be it gas, electric, or charcoal will do. I personally use an electric grill but place a few pieces of hardwood charcoal on the burners to get that authentic charcoal barbeque flavor. On full blast with the cover closed I will soon be at 400 degrees which is perfect. Place the chicken breasts bone side down and let them cook for a bit. I usually let them cook for about 10 minutes during which time I am doing some of the prep clean up and cracking open a Miller 64 or in today’s case a Miller Lite. Hey, it’s the holidaze. A wee bit of Scotch is also in order.

 

You do NOT want to exceed an internal of 180 degrees unless you like to chew on shoe leather.

 

Okay 10 minutes later I dress the tops of the chicken with some barbeque sauce and then flip them over for another 10 minutes. Occasionally I will check the doneness with a meat thermometer. You do NOT want to exceed an internal of 180 degrees unless you like to chew on shoe leather. When the chicken chops just reach 170, I dress the top side with barbeque sauce, flip the pieces and kill the electric power to the grill. Being that it is abou 29 degrees outside the grill starts to cool quickly however the coals are still quite hot and continue to cook the chicken to the desired doneness. What is nice about this approach is that you minimize the chances of overdoing the chicken and allows you to play your Fender Stratocaster for a few minutes more before going backout to harvest the hot and perfectly cooked chicken.

 

 

 

Don’t you just hate mushy veggies?!

 

Take you perfectly barbequed chicken and slice the breast like London Broil. Exquisitely delicious. I served it with a mix of steamed broccoli, brussel sprouts, and carrots all done al dente. Don’t you just hate mushy veggies?!

 

So that’s it. Oh yeah, you can take any left over chicken, slice it up and put it over a salad the following night.  

 

 

Good luck and

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

As 3D printing is a relatively new phenomena there is a lot of excitement going on about all the possibilities this process opens up. So the question to ask is 3D print a guitar? Answer; Absolutely!!! 3D Printing also known as Additive Manufacturing is  a process where successive layers are laid down or “printed” in different shapes until a pre-programed object emerges seemingly out of nowhere. The applications of this process seem to be never ending. From machine parts to revolvers, to body parts, loud speakers and beyond. Now a new generation of  printed guitars are coming about and they are truly very cool and inspiring. Of course at this stage, it is mostly the bodies that are 3D printed while a lot of conventional manufacturing still goes into the rest of the process.

 

The guitar bodies are 3D printed. Conventional materials are also used.

 

As Olaf Diegel states in an article by Todd Halterman October 20, 2013 “On A High Note – Olaf Diegal’s 3D Printed Guitars: http://www.3dprinterworld.com/article/high-note-olaf-diegels-3d-printed-guitars ;

“Look at my guitars. The bodies are 3D printed, but the necks and inner cores are CNC machined. The bridge and tuning heads are cast. My inlay is done with laser engraving and cutting. Some of the plastic bits are injection molded. They use almost every manufacturing technology under the sun.”

The electronics and hardware on these creations are still pretty much standard fare but that takes nothing away from the collective endpoint that results in a truly functional work of art where the imagination is the limit and the coolness factor unlimited.

 

 

A very cool 3D printed acoustic guitar.

 

In fact there is a very cool 3D printed acoustic guitar as well!! http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-10-11/the-worlds-first-3d-printed-guitar.

 3D Printing. The Future is Today!!

As it turns out this process of 3D printing is poised to be a real game changer not only in general but for guitar manufacturing as well. This is just the beginning. Possibly very soon, the entire guitar; body, neck, pickups and wiring might be created simply by programming your computer to do so. Want a Les Paul, Stratocaster or Telecaster? Grab a Miller 64 and hit the “print” button!!!

Behold! The future is today!!

 

For further reading:

 

 

http://cubify.com/products/guitars/

 

http://www.odd.org.nz/atom.html

 

http://www.guitarworld.com/another-dimension-odd-3-d-printed-guitars

 

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-10-11/the-worlds-first-3d-printed-guitar

 

Ibanez RS1500. Fender Strat Killer?! You decide!!

 

So what are you thinking …………?

Never gonna happen!

Quite possibly?

Could have been?

Dr. Chuck has lost his friggin’ mind to Miller 64?!!

 

Well it is time boys and girls to grab a cold one and once again dig into another RANT……

 

For all those that are not acquainted with the Ibanez RS1500 and all those who swear by the Fender Stratocaster,  prepare to have your mind set altered or at least enlarged. I am not looking to simply make converts to this guitar by endorsement or make you swear off your beloved time proven Fender Stratocasters. Also Ibanez does not know me from dirt as does the Hoshino Corporation that was their founding fathers. I have nothing to gain with the following story about one of the most amazing guitars I have ever played and so now the playing field is leveled.

 

Years ago either before I entered dental school, or during my initial tenure, during summer vacation I took a day trip to Manhattan ( New York City ) for those that are unitiated . Yes, I know there are other cities labeled as Manhattans, but only one is New York City, okay?!) I arrived at 48^th St.,  the guitar Mecca of New York and possibly the world. Me and my friends went GAGA over the guitar and gear offerings!! years before before the most beautiful and talented Lady Gaga coined the term, gulped our breath and drooled over the amazing guitars and gear available at the time to us for only if we had oodles of money.

 

 Real wood topped guitars with minimal pickguard are a thing of beauty!

I always loved real wood topped guitars with minimal pickguard as was becoming more popular by Gibson Les Paul aficionados to leave their pickguards  at home instead of mounting them, I loved that Les Paul without a pick guard fanfare a la Dicky Betts,  yet always loved Fender Stratocasters and Fender Telecasters  as well and wondered what they might look like without a slab of plastic on the top and whether it might even be an improvement. Would they still capture the Fender Stratocaster and Fender Telecaster

“vive” sans pickguard?

 

At that time, I was dreaming about a Stratocaster with a truncated pickguard to allow the wood grain to show through or NO pickguard at all, perish the thought?  I thought that concept would be so cool!I was imagining a Fender Stratocaster with uber wood showing through and no pickguard. Didn’t exist at the time. Oh well………….

 

 Manny’s, Rudy’s and Sam Ash in New York City. A gear Mecca!!

Take a trip to NYC simply to lust over the many things in Manny’s, Rudy’s and Sam Ash that I could not afford and I happened along an Ibanez RS1500 in what I call vintage sunburst,.. howver, I did not know that at the time because the first thing that grabbed my noodle was the body that at first grasp absolutely looked Fender Stratocaster, yeah?  Strat style body, 3 Strat style single coil pick up set up most correctly meaning the neck and middle pickup wer parallel to each other but the treble pick up had that cool slant downward towards the bridge which was designed to get every fractrion of an ounce of treble bite out of the strings way back when when George and Leo designed this puppy? Then as I fantacized there was NO pickguard!!!!! Just these really cool frames to bolt and hold the pickguards in place at the proper positions while allowing the beautiful ash wood in between to show case unblocked by a big pickguard. To me at that time this was a HUGE design step forward by Fender. Then I looked at the headstock and realized it was not a Fender Stratocaster at all , but instead a very beautiful state of the art  Ibanez RS 1500.

 

 

“Crafted in Japan” just oozes a quality vibe that makes one warm and fuzzy!

 

The Ibanez Roadstar RS1500  is made with a nice resonant Ash body with a maple neck through with  a rosewood finger board with a 25.5 scale. The neck through aspect is very similar in appearance and feel to the Carvin DC400. See my post: Carvin Guitars: Why you will soon want one!!  This means a very comfortable feel and effortless upper fret access.  So here I was ogling this beautiful instrument, wanting it very badly, and simply knowing that one day I would own one. And speaking of the headstock, THIS was the Ibanez headstock that I fell in love with. Fenderish enough to look the part, but not at all a law suit plagiarized copy by a long shot. In fact, to me the Ibanez Roadstar headstocks are the most beautiful of any that Ibanez ever offered. The current fondue fork inspired Ibanez headstock does absolutely NOTHING for me, as do the fluorescent construction paper inlays and a cut out hand grip. Hey! To each theie own; they are simply not my style. I’m a more traditional guy.  Gotta love the headstock label where it proudly proclaims in an understated way, “Crafted in Japan”. Not simply “made in Japan, but crafted in Japan. That just oozes vibe and gives one that fuzzy feeling of being the proud owner of such a fine instrument as an Ibanez RS1500.

 

Was I disappointed it was not Fender who presented this most beautiful guitar. Not at all, and also just a tiny bit surprised. When I worked briefly at Sam Ash in the mid 1970’s before being fired by da bastid Mel Fieldz which will be a subject of a future rant, Ibanez was in the depth of producing their law suit guitars and were constructing instruments of surpring quality with more care than Gibson.  At that time in the midst of their dreadful “Norlin years” when Gibson was taken over by unmusical bean counters,  these interloper rogues almost put the, (can you believe it??!) premier producer of electric guitars; Gibson, out of business!! Coincidentally, Fender had just been taken over by CBS and was also facing their quality doldrums as well. This topic of the Gibson/Fender “dark years” will be the topic of another rant so keep tuning in boys and girls!!

 

After I realized that this was not a Fender guitar and accepted that it was yet another undeniably excellent offering by the relatively new Ibanez company, I lusted over it for the next umpteen years until I finally after searching the internet and Ebay  a few short years ago came across one. Not perfect, but close. You guys know how I feel about “pristine”,… but as I said,this one was close, and so as rare as they were, I went for it with a vengeance. I simpy WANTED this guitar and nothing was going to stop me,…errr,.. that is , as long as I didn’t run out of money,…

 

This was before the recession hit and ruined everything for sellers. Anyway, they were going for around $1200.00 before Obama was elected. I sniped for $899.00 and was feeling really proud myself as I won the auction, maybe because the listing ended at 3 A:M

(who stays up that late on a weeknight except Mr. Snipe Program, anyway?) or maybe because it had some minor body damage. Who knows? In any case, for that period in time I scored well and I will at this point ride the present economy out rather than sell at a loss as this guitar is amazing and you will soon find out why!

 

So what sets this guitar apart from the rest of the Fender Stratocaster inspired instruments, so much so that I call it; “Ibanez RS1500/Fender Strat Killer?!! To me above and beyond the excellent quality, the neck through design and the lack of a pickguard that allows the beauty of the ash wood to show through, the most important feature was the very unique wiring harness that allowed infinite tonal tweaking on the Fender Stratocaster kind of theme. And so following I will explain this unique set up which by the way does NOT rely on any active circuitry but is instead totally passive.

 

First as a base line, let us basically explain the Fender set up. http://www.fender.com/news/the-stratocaster-pickup-selector-switch/Fender has a master volume control, two tone controls, and a 5 position slide pickup selector switch. Position 1 is the treble pick up only, position 2 is the treble and middle pick up, position 3 is the middle pick up, position 4 is the middle and neck pick up, and finally position 5 is the neck pickup only. The middle pick up is reverse wired and so when you are in positions 2 and 4 you are fully out of phase. Position 2 is the bridge pickup/middle pickup combination, and Position 4 is the middle pickup/neck pickup combination. These 2 and 4 or “in between” settings give that classic Fender spank or “quack” as some put it. Very cool tones or very bad tones depending on your point of view. They are sometimes referred to as “Knopfleresque” tones because Dire Straits Mark Knofler has his signature tone based on these settings. I love the sound personally, however I really wished the settings were adjustable from slight quack to full quack. I think that would make for some interesting variable flavors within the realm of Knopfleresquedom, yes? That Fender Strat five position switch is pretty much all or none though.

 

As a side note, as originally designed, the Fender slide switch only had three positions, bridge, middle, neck. Apparently it was accidentally discovered that if you carefully balance the springiness of the switch to setting in between which later became designated as 2 and 4, you could get these really unique tones that Fender really never had in mind in the first place. Players would then open up the guitars and hot rod the switch by filing a notch in those 2 and 4 areas to grab the switch and hold it in place. Eventually Fender caught on and by popular demand started to make the 5 position switch standard. This sort of serendipity reminds me of how on the Hammond B3, the manufacturer initially considered the classic “key click” as an annoying unwanted defect, now so beloved by Hammond players that Hammond organ emulators strive to duplicate this “defect” in the quest of authentic Hammond B3 tone,….

 And so I digress. So let’s get back to topic okay? Manoman, give this guy a couple of Miler 64’s and he jumps ship all over the place!!!  Sheesh!!!

 

Fender Strat flavor that would make Mark Knopfler smile!

 

For further study:

http://fattoneguitars.wordpress.com/2010/10/27/how-mark-knopfler-got-his-groove/

 

Alrighty then! First glance of the knob layout of the Ibanez RS 1500 doesn’t grab you like it is something out of the ordinary. Not at all.  Without the 5 position selector switch of a Fender Stratocaster, it actually looks limited compared to what you would expect to dig up totally on a Fender Strat. The set up actually resembles something that you might find on a Gibson Les Paul even more than a Fender Strat. For starters there is a volume control for both neck and bridge. Turns them BOTH up or down simultaneously. There is also another volume control that is strictly for the middle pick up and also a master tone control. Finally, there is a toggle switch that pretty much acts like it would on a Gibson Les Paul. Okay, for starters, let us turn the middle pick up all the way down and the volume for the neck/bridge pickups all the way up. Flick the toggle towards the bridge pick up and you have,.. the bridge pick up. Flick the toggle to the neck pick up only, and well,.. you have the neck pick up only. Flick it to the middle and you have both neck and bridge pickups. So far no great surprise, very Gibson Les Paul like, and straight forward.

 

With the above pickup designations  explained, here is where the magic starts. Remember I said the middle pick up has its own volume. This is key as the middle pickup is reverse wired like on the Fender Strat. Now let us turn the  neck/bridge pickup volume down and turn the middle pick up volume while placing the toggle in the middle. Guess what? You get the middle pickup but it is silent!!!  So where am  I going with all this stuff? Well remember I said the middle pickup is reverse wired. Let us go back to the original setting where the neck/bridge pickups are engaged, for instance with their volume control dimed. Now you incrementally bring up the middle pick up. As you do, a really cool thing happens. You start to dial in some out of phase Fender Strat “quack” so characteristic of the Fender Stratocaster. Now this is not a Fender Strat like on or off scenario but rather gradations as you turn that middle volume knob anywhere from full off to full on. Boys and girls, there is a whole lot of out of tone flavors going on in between the extremes from slight quack to max quack. VERY, very cool indeed.

 

Let’s take this further. Again, turn the middle pick up off and flick the toggle to the treble position. Full straight forward treble pickup. Now start to bleed in that middle pick up and you start to again bring on the out of phase quack from subtle to full bore or anything in between. Now repeat this scenario starting with the neck pick up only and start to bleeding the middle from just a touch of quack to again full bore. I think that now you are getting the picture. These settings not only mimic the static one flavor only out of phase positions 2 and 4 on your beloved Fender Stratocaster, they actually expand upon 2 and 4 with infinite variability of intensity of the, if you will; “effect”. This wiring scenario of the Ibanex RS 1500 is HUGE! You can spend hours with this passive circuit tweaking and twisting to arrive at “your” sound!! I just love it.  You can also try diming the middle pick up and then bringing the neck/bridge combo incrementally up resulting in ever more killer tones! And so the middle pick up on the Ibanez RS1500 with volume turned off is in stealth mode just wating to attack a Gibson Les Paul like tone stack in any pick up combination with Fender Strat “quack’!!

The best of both worlds! The only thing that might make this better is to have coil tapping humbuckers at all positions or at lest neck and bridge. As it is one could spend eons experimenting with tone, imagine adding in a sense three more accessible pickups?!!! Well, as it hasn’t been done yet at least to my knowledge, it is time once again to put down the Miller 64 http://www.miller64.com/

and get back to the business at hand.

 

So now you see that the Fender Stratocaster wiring is kind of “black & white”, in comparison to  the “NBC peacock” of living color by comparison to the Ibanez RS1500.

 

The seldom seen Ibanez RS1500 is my favorite of the Ibanez Roadster series. Extremely well built, gorgeous, and tonally versatile to the extreme in a Fender Strat flavor that would make Mark Knopfler smile! For more images and information on the Ibanez RS1500 and others of the most beautiful Ibanez Roadstar line click on the following links:

https://www.google.com/search?q=ibanez+roadstar+rs+1500&rlz=1C2EODB_enUS563US563&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=ezWqUrjAEO_hsAT16YLwBg&ved=0CCwQsAQ&biw=1680&bih=948

 

 

http://www.ibanezcollectors.com/discus/messages/14/4052.html

 

Now you know why I pose the eternal question; Ibanez RS1500.  Fender Strat Killer? You decide!!

 

 

Not likely!!

Gibson Limited Edition Midtown Custom. A classic in the making!

Behold a very, VERY cool new limited edition Gibson semi hollow body guitar inspired by the Gibson ES series of guitars namely the Gibson ES355 which is the top of the line. This guitar looks top shelf and I am confident it plays and sounds that way as well. Needless to say I am quite stoked about Gibson’s new offering and can’t wait to try one out!

 

Gibson Limited Edition Midtown Custom. The basics of how it is made.

 This Gibson limited edition guitar is a bit cheaper to manufacture than a Gibson ES335 or the aforementioned Gibson ES355 it emulates because only the maple cap is arched maple. The rest of the body is a solid block of wood, most likely mahogany, which is chambered out by a programmed CNC ( Computer Numerical Control ) machine to resemble a weight relieved or “semi hollow” body. (…Or “semi solid” depending on your point of view i.e. is the cup half empty or half full? I prefer the term half empty, especially with a Miller 64. It then makes looking forward to the next one a bit less gluttonous than if you are reaching for another while you still have one that is half full,.. but then I digress). Anyway, after that block of mahogany has been transformed by that CNC miracle of technology machine into an appropriately shaped and partly <not going there again!> hollowed guitar body, the arched maple top is basically glued to the top of the body. Of course, I simplified the process a bit, but that is essentially it. Also of note is that the body size of this Gibson Limited Edition Midtown Custom guitar is slightly smaller than a standard Gibson ES355 but still gives the appearance of a full size Gibson ES style guitar. Pretty cool!

 

On a Gibson ES335/345/355 both the top and back are pieces of arched maple. A center block of wood is shaped and placed, then a side strip of maple us curved to match the outline of the top and back.  All the pieces are glued together and appropriate binding placed, etc. This is all done by hand. Much less labor intensive to take what is essentially a “solid body” have it appropriately hollowed out by a machine and then glue a maple top on it. Yes it might not have binding on the sick/back angle of the body and the back of the guitar may be flat un-figured mahogany like a Les Paul, but in any case and bottom line, it works and the result is a top notch Gibson limited edition guitar at a much cheaper price. I’d love to have on one of these babies! I’m also starting to grow fond of the baked maple fingerboards. Smooth and dense. Reading a lot of good things about baked maple and other alternative materials to what is rapidly becoming the unfortunate dwindling supply of ebony.*

 

Gibson Limited Edition Midtown Custom. How to painlessly ( well almost ) get one now!

 Also companies like American Musical Supply which offer interest free payment plans take a bit of the sting out of the purchase. This is a whole lot of guitar for cost of admission of $1499.00 including a hard shell case!  In summary, the Gibson Limited Edition Midtown Custom is a great guitar at a great price!

 

http://www.americanmusical.com/Item–i-GIB-DSDCCT-LIST

 

Great job Gibson! Check it out!

http://www2.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/Designer/Gibson-USA/Midtown-Custom.aspx

 

*For further study on the current state of wood supplies in general and especially ebony check out this very informative video by Bob Taylor of Taylor Guitars.  An eye opener for sure!

http://youtu.be/anCGvfsBoFY

 

http://www.taylorguitars.com/

 

For some other view points of the Gibson Limited Edition Midtown Custom check out:

http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/other-gibsons/222312-ngd-gibson-midtown-custom-2.html