Dual GS/3 Machine Vince Piccolo's wish list fulfilled? Could be! The paddle group is to die for. Time to start making them for real, LM!

Geezus. Now I can finally talk about this.

La Marzocco is celebrating their 80th Anniversary this year, and because of this, there was a want by the Italian side of the ocean to have some "concept" machines to really set the stage for what the company was about, is about, and where they are going. They did something similar back in 2002 and 2003 in and around their 75th Anniversary, but in that case, it was finding all the coolest antiques in Kent Bakke's basement that they could, and put them on display.

They did that this time around, and when I get back to the booth tomorrow or Monday, I'll snap a lot of photos of some other interesting machines around here. But for this post, how about this beast? A dual GS/3 concept!

I said I can finally talk about it, because I knew about the plans for this one a while ago. I have a pretty comfortable relationship with La Marzocco, which has its good points and bad ones. The good ones are, I'm usually in some sort of loop on future plans and surprises, which, as a 'geek, is like, the coolest thing in the world.

The bad part? Most of the time, I'm bound to an informal confidentiality thing, which means I nearly burst at the seams with some of the stuff I find out. But I can't tell anyone - at least online - about it. I knew that Bill was asked to put this one together for the show, and so he did. Also, Bill's really the reason why the idea and concept even exists in the first place - but people like Vince Piccolo are as well.

As far back as the earliest prototype stage days, when I had one of the first GS/3s out there, Vince saw it, lusted it, and got Bill's ear at some point soon after, asking about possibly building a three unit (notice I didn't say group) version for a Caffe Artigiano. Or maybe 4 units. Or 5.

I'm not saying or implying that Vince gave Bill the idea for multigrouping the GS/3. But he did give Vince the reassurance that there may be a demand for a multi-group GS/3 out there. And since then, it's been one of the things that Crossland has been talking about, and mulling over.

There's a lot about this concept that is just that - concept. How about the concept of running this all on 120V, 15 or 20 amp power? Damn! Can you imagine - taking something like this to a Farmer's Market, running it off a Honda generator, and totally kicking the ass of any cafe within a 50 mile radius? I sure can. Can it be achieved? I don't know, but if anyone can figure it out, Bill Crossland can.

This machine had to be one of the most popular at the show. Pretty much every star Barista on the floor stepped up to it at one point or another. I got my chance, working on Bill's new LM Prototype grinder as well (ie, Concept #2, coming in a later post).

I do have a very public message for La Marzocco - specifically, everyone, from Kent Bakke to Ron Cooke, from Lorenzo to Guido, and even, bless his heart, Pierro:

La Marzocco: It's time to stop just showing off the paddle group, and start actually manufacturing it again. The tease has gone on long enough. With what I hear about Concept #3 (I'll get over to ESI's booth later today to scope it out), it's gotta happen.