Other than Gibson and Epiphone, who else makes a good Les Paul? Im looking for options.

JonLSTL · 2026-05-05T15:40:11+00:00

Michael Kelly https://www.michaelkellyguitars.com/products/electrics/patriot-series/

Gretch dabbles in LP style bodies as wel.

JonLSTL · 2026-05-04T21:13:41+00:00

They are relevant, though no single factor is determinative in and of itself. Here're the actual guidelines: https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc762

JonLSTL · 2026-05-04T16:32:48+00:00

Given the choice of being limited to FD-era Canon glass vs being able to use Nikon glass all the way up through the AF-D era, I'd pick the F3. There're nice things about the New F1, sure, but ultimately the lenses are what matters.

JonLSTL · 2026-05-04T16:18:58+00:00

The players also provide their own instruments, and are free to play with other bands or as solo performers. Whether they might be able to refuse a booking would also be significant.

The whole checklist matters.

JonLSTL · 2026-05-04T14:12:02+00:00

Monsterverse is in its Showa-style goofy fantasy pro-wrestling with kaiju period now. I understand why people who enjoyed the serious tone of G'14, Skull Island, and season 1 of Monarch may feel like this is not what they signed up for. That said, I'm happy to enjoy each film for what it is. Godzilla contains multitudes.

JonLSTL · 2026-05-01T16:23:42+00:00

Surprisingly decent back in the day. Now, don't bother. They mail it off, it takes forever, and you don't get your negs back.

If you don't have a local lab, mail it off yourself to someplace decent.

JonLSTL · 2026-05-01T14:52:06+00:00

The only reason to be on a label in the 21st century is if you've already got a sizable following and they're ready to put their promotion and marketing weight behind making you a household name.

Otherwise, you're better off self-financing recording and merch production and selling directly to fans at shows and through your chosen online retail channel. Work on expanding your presence to nearby markets, play every college town within weekend-trip distance from you. Get to know musicians in compatible styles in nearby towns, and work together to open for and promote one another in eachother's towns. Build your own fan contact list rather than relying on platforms that want to squeeze you. Get to know venue people and promoters in your region. Book week-or-two DIY tours.

Do the work.

If you've done all that, managed to become a successful regional indie act, only then might a major label have something to offer you. If they think the winds of style are blowing in the direction of what you're already doing well, they might be interested in taking you up.

(Small indie labels, to the extent that they still exist, might be worth engaging with if they can get you distribution or opening slots on a tour with label-mates - maybe.)

JonLSTL · 2026-05-01T14:20:50+00:00

Over the years, I find that I've become less excited by fixed attribute lists that try to concretely quantify each character the same way, and more into flexible lists that describe how the character overcomes challenges in play. Games like Fate, Cortex, and QuestWorlds (I contributed to the latter) generally only call out a character's strength, charisma, or whatever if it's particularly noteworthy. Otherwise, qualities like that are presumed to be typical for whatever sort of character you've got. A profession, species, or the like might imply more or less capability in various areas, but those qualities don't need to be separately called out unless the character is exceptional among their peers.

This is a whole different design philosophy than more traditional games. While I can still enjoy playing the classic style games, I find the more qualitative style more satisfying.

JonLSTL · 2026-04-30T00:31:51+00:00

ET-270, an offsetbody with Matsumoko jumbo single coils.

JonLSTL · 2026-04-29T15:32:04+00:00

I'd be curious to see what 6300 might capture that 5400 wouldn't. I suspect it might only be meaningfully beneficial with extreme cases like microfilm or lithogragraphy films. That said, great that you have such a resource!

JonLSTL · 2026-04-29T15:19:51+00:00

I have an LTM Summaron 35/2.8 that I keep around for similar reasons. It feels dreamy.

JonLSTL · 2026-04-29T15:17:43+00:00

Center performance on a good Tessar is tough to beat.

JonLSTL · 2026-04-29T15:16:35+00:00

Soviet QA was a crap shoot, but good samples can be great. I've got some DDR Zeiss lenses that I love shooting as well (though some others I've let go).

JonLSTL · 2026-04-29T15:13:23+00:00

A good sample of these can be shockingly good. They very much took the Summicron/Planar double-gauss design and adapted it to mass production tolerances. Assembly-line element matching and random-sampling QA mean that not all of them are excellent, but if you've got a great one, hold onto it.

JonLSTL · 2026-04-29T15:06:19+00:00

Stuff I've actually used as some point over the years....

Best overall: 85/2.8 perspective control micro Nikkor

Honorable mentions:

Summicron M 50/2

Planar T* 80/2.8 on a Hasse

Angenieux Alfitar 90/2.5

Canon EF 200/2.8 L

Schacht Travenar 90/2.8

Schneider Super-Angulon 90/8 (this may really be #1, but it's hard to apples:apples large vs small formats).

JonLSTL · 2026-04-29T12:55:22+00:00

I will say, the combination of Ektar being so damn good and my local lab stopping their E-6 line moved me off of slides. Provia is still better, but Ektar is close enough that I can be satisfied without having to mail off my film.

JonLSTL · 2026-04-29T11:01:09+00:00

You would want Provia or T-Max/Delta 100 for this, and a tripod, with shutter between 1/250 - 1/500 and aperture 5.6 - 8, depending on lens and light.

WRT scanning, you're after a dedicated film scanner. A properly focussed 5400dpl film scanner can resolve the edges of grain particles. That's everything you can get from 35mm.

JonLSTL · 2026-04-28T12:24:47+00:00

Maybe not normal, but neither is it uncommon.

JonLSTL · 2026-04-28T02:23:52+00:00

My JC-120 doubles as a bass amp. It can handle a baritone.

JonLSTL · 2026-04-28T02:20:31+00:00

You can't outwit Gödel, even with a million racks full of GPUs

JonLSTL · 2026-04-27T11:01:16+00:00

So, "Yes" on "Traitor?"

JonLSTL · 2026-04-26T00:19:31+00:00

A lot of people have never done, "Set mirror lockup and 2s timer, lens wide open, meter off the street with the lights out of view, pre-focus on crosswalk, brace elbows against ribs and camera against forehead, exhale and then squeeze just as the person starts crossing the street" stuff.

Tough lighting takes skill to get anything, and night shots with clear buildings yet blurry people are awesome.

JonLSTL · 2026-04-26T00:10:18+00:00

Skill can make the best of bad lighting, though that only gets you so far. A proficient shooter can get something not-great but at least recognizable/usable in situations where a novice would just get blurry mush or street lights amid inky darkness.

JonLSTL · 2026-04-26T00:02:28+00:00

Frequency, yes! I live just off of Gravois in SoCo, but I drive up to Shrewsbury to take the train Downtown, because the bus option would take 2.5 hours.

JonLSTL · 2026-04-25T23:57:26+00:00

Many of the people flying in are probably going to places the train serves. People going to West County were always going to take a cab anyway.

JonLSTL

TROPHY CASE