G&L Acoustic Guitars?

I recently purchased an acoustic guitar for my son at a used guitar shop in the Portland, OR area. It's a G&L Acoustic guitar. After I did a little research, I found that G&L never mass produced any acoustics outside of 6-12 prototypes and most of them were kept by the G&L employees. There's absolutely no identification on the guitar in terms of serial numbers or anything. The only identification of any sort on the guitar is the G&L logo on the headstock.

I'm curious if anyone here has any additional information on G&L's experiments into acoustic guitars. Is there any way to tell if the one I have is actually one of the few prototypes that were produced?

It looks right to me, same headstock and logo on the others I've seen pictures of.


and that back is gorgeous...Congrats on finding a real rarity.

What a find! Congrats As far as S/N, look inside the sound hole to see if there isn't one stamped on the neck block (similar to Collings guitars). If there is, let us know.

- Jos

wow. i would love to have that. looks great, i bet it sounds good too.

My son and I looked for months searching for just the right guitar. new and used, expensive and cheap. he just wanted the right feel and sound. as soon as he picked up the G&L he knew he wanted it. the tone and action were exceptional. we compared it to several in the shop (taylor, gibson, and several other expensive guitars). believing the guitar to be a cheap knock off, and the face well worn to boot, it still out played the others. it was an easy choice to buy it.

I did call a tech from G&L and he said, "I know of that guitar and can tell you it is a one of a kind. he only knows of maybe a dozen that were made". Now I am really curious to know it's history.

I checked the neck block and the entire interior and still no serial number or logo or stickers. It does have a bolt on neck. is this common?

I checked the neck block and the entire interior and still no serial number or logo or stickers. It does have a bolt on neck. is this common?

not really, a few brands in the past have played with bolt on acoustics (framus,cbs-fender),


I think we need many more pictures

Wow, what a find. I've never even heard of an acoustic G&L.

+1 on HEAPS more pictures!

Actually a bolt-on neck acoustic is quite common and many high end builders including Collings, Taylor, etc. use them. These are quite different from bolt-on necks with an external neck plate (like the Fender or Framus Elwood mentioned) and for my money they are a plus since it makes doing neck resets a breeze. Unlike a traditional build. There are some who say that only a traditional neck/body joint like on a Martin will do, but there are many plusses to having a bolt-on neck, and none of the downsides. I don't know if there's an archive of the old board but there was a good thread about G&L acoustics on there some years back. I forget who made these for G&L but there weren't many made. Nice find.

Good info jon, thanks
Was it 'Tacoma' guitars , or something like that?


edit: aha...found something:

http://www.guitarsbyleo.com/gldp/messages/755.php3

thanks for the info. its a good start. I will check back to see if anyone else may have more details.

also I was told the acoustic guitar plays better with age and use. I was comparing the g&l to fairly new guitars. this G&L obviously (because of the pick marks) has seen some serious onstage gig time.