James P. is a heavy hitter at Zeitgeist, a local favorite bike-friendly bar. He cooks there so he sees a lot of humanity. When he’s not running the busy kitchen or curing an ulcer (he *cares*, man), he’s playing lap steel. All his interests become passions. He has many lap steels – beautiful vintage examples – like this Kiesel and this early Gibson (both pictured) and we get to see them when they misbehave. Today Gary and Tim have saved James half a Benjamin by replacing a single broken plastic tuning button instead of the entire set and simultaneously avoiding unnecessary woodworking on a vintage instrument. James, in his autodidactic enthusiasm, researches and schools himself about infinite tuning varieties for his lap steels. He keeps meticulous records. Changing strings on the Gibson for a heavier gauge he gleefully sings out: “I’m gonna get fifteen different tunings outta this bad boy!!!”
We gotta check out his cooking. Maybe they deliver…
- a replacement tuner button
- “…fifteen different tunings!”
- meticulous records
– AW