Dad's Guitars

[Danley]

I didn't ever want to make a post like this. Now that I am I really do *not* want it to come across as "Hey my dad died, look what I have!" Yet I'm compelled to make this post anyway; because my dad is important to me; so his guitars are important to me.

I last saw him a bit over a month ago. We met for burgers and he gave me this for no specific reason. Dad played acoustic for years, but didn't get into electrics till he was about seventy; perhaps a late mid-life crisis. He bought Fender and G&L guitars because he grew up in Orange County. In the last couple years, my most frequent interactions with him were: 1 - Emailing him songs I recorded in GarageBand, or 2 - Sending each other ebay/reverb deals and daring ourselves to buy things. That's how he obtained his F100 (also a not-pictured Tribute ASAT.)

For a week before his death I meant to text him I'd picked up some (now-reproduced) toggle switch covers for the F100, ordered from G&L. I never got to make that text. While it (and several other guitars) are now in my custody, I really can't yet deal with the thought of taking any of them from where he left them; I played the Tribute for a moment and felt guilty for even tweaking the knobs. I joked about a mid-life crisis earlier. But really I think his late-developed interest in electric guitars was at least in part to find a way to connect with me and appreciate something I did, although he had no expectation to die so soon after. So these aren't guitars I remember from when I was young or anything, but they're almost better than that; they're my 70+ year old Dad, trying to do something I might find interesting that we could then talk about.

So I've obviously been thinking about a lot more than guitars lately, but I don't think it would be worth relating these few G&L particular paragraphs anywhere other than here. I guess I'll just say make good memories while you can; it's been just short of a month, and at some point I'll bring myself to pick up the F100 and Tribute. Holding off on that for now.

[WitSok]

Sorry for your loss Danley.

I joked about a mid-life crisis earlier. But really I think his late-developed interest in electric guitars was at least in part to find a way to connect with me and appreciate something I did,

Your probably correct and I think that it is awesome that your dad continues to seek out ways to connect and find things you could appreciate together. Cherish the memories.

Peace, Dan

[john o]

Danley. I'm sorry to hear the news about losing your dad. Sounds like that was sudden and unexpected.
I went through that experience about 6 years ago. Alot of mixed up emotions, complex. intense.

The F-100 is pretty earthy. Looks well played. Maybe an '82? It's good to have that remembrance of your dad. Something that was touched by him, keeps him a little closer.

[Danley]

Thanks, it's an '81 Series One. The finish is stain, the guitar was originally black but stripped at some point (it really does look like a lot of the burgundy F100 finishes I see on eBay, but no gloss or oil on it.) I always wondered about refinishing it back to black for my Dad, but no desire to change it from how it is now (aside from adding the toggle covers.) I wrote about the guitar a bit on this forum previously, it really does redefine "sustain" whenever I play it.

[FZTNT]

I'm sorry to hear about your Dad, I lost mine a couple years back and he was my last living parent or any of that generation. We used to talk on the phone a lot and I miss that. I am disabled and retired and one day he asked me how I keep sane and what do I do to pass the time. I said, I started collecting and playing G&L guitars. So I kind of know what he was up to. That is a beautiful F-100 and you will have it to remember your Dad. My Dad was a musical genius but played keyboards (piano) and clarinet which I never really got into. But I did get my first guitar from my Dad in Junior High school. He was having some of his friends over for a jam and he went out and bought a nylon string guitar, a ukulele, a saxophone and a couple other instruments and when they were done, he gave them to us kids. Play it in good health and let it sing.

Tom

[Danley]

Ignored the pit in my stomach; picked up the guitar. Installed the switch tips, and totally disassembled the bridge for setup (this was needed- the saddles were corroded to the point of sticking even with the set screw backed all the way out. Cleaned them and applied a bit of white lithium grease between each saddle for maintenance.) A few thoughts:

-WOW. This guitar redefines sustain, and is like an old friend to play. It's so responsive/solid to play
-It barely intonates; well, the B and high E will not intonate unless I buy longer screws. The other strings are on the last few threads
-The action is a similar story: except for the D/G, all the strings are at the absolute end of the grub screws to get the action where I want it and would not go any higher (~2mm at the 12th fret.) I have micro tilt backed off all the way so the neck is as flat as possible. Was this an early production 'feature?' (See pic)
-The nut is worn; I'll need to either build it up a bit under a couple strings, or replace
-The finish isn't my ideal choice, but I can live with it (as tempted as I am to either clear it or oil it- I really don't want to mess with it for nostalgia's sake, and also because it plays and sounds excellent as-is)
-Appears the G&L website is down to validate by SN it is in fact an '81

[Craig]

-Appears the G&L website is down to validate by SN it is in fact an '81

See: G&L chronology page missing?

Hope this helps.

[Danley]

Thanks; looks like he SN at least is '81 .

Also: Is it possible the saddles were swapped with a DFV? Googling F100 bridges yields the below stepped saddles, which would be a better fit. Were DFV-style saddles ever installed from the factory?

[yowhatsshakin]

Thanks; looks like he SN at least is '81 .

Also: Is it possible the saddles were swapped with a DFV? Googling F100 bridges yields the below stepped saddles, which would be a better fit. Were DFV-style saddles ever installed from the factory?

That is correct Danley, the saddles on the Saddle-Lock (although G&L used Locktight bridge as the term in the day) on you guitar are indeed for a DFV unit. From my own experience, finding era correct string-through-body saddles is pretty hard.

However, check the back of the bridge. If there are 12 holes there, half of them used by the intonation screws, you still might try the set of saddles available in the G&L Online Store using the rightmost of every pair for the intonation screw to match the offset stem of these more modern saddles. My string-through F-100 Locktight bridge only has 6 holes, so I do not expect success. But you never know.

- Jos

[Danley]

Thanks- On the bright side they at least function. If I liked super low action (which is how the guitar was set up before) it would be less of an issue. As it is, I'll probably just buy longer grub/intonation screws.

Looks like the modern saddle-lock saddles won't fit, as mentioned the intonation screws are not offset per newer units.

[yowhatsshakin]

Thanks- On the bright side they at least function. If I liked super low action (which is how the guitar was set up before) it would be less of an issue. As it is, I'll probably just buy longer grub/intonation screws.

Looks like the modern saddle-lock saddles won't fit, as mentioned the intonation screws are not offset per newer units.

Danley,

Contact ESI and see if Gabe Dellevigne can help you out scoring 6 proper saddles. They list bridge parts as a product to come but you never know.

- Jos

[Danley]

Thanks to the input of people in this thread, I have NOS saddles coming- not inexpensive, but the price was fair/honest and a good value to me, all things considered.

On inspection- with the saddles as high as they are the locking screw actually barely touches the side of the saddle. I'm looking forward to the new ones.

I realize something else every time I look at it: For example, this guitar has matte black hardware. I've seen other guitars pictured with matte hardware, but this is the only one I've seen with black knobs. My initial thought was someone must have painted them after the fact, but they appear not to ever have been chromed.

[Danley]

My guitar is back in the (NOS) saddle(s) again, thanks to a very generous person. This is what hen's teeth look like:

Notice how much higher and longer the stock saddle is compared to the DFV saddles; that's why the guitar wouldn't intonate and the action was maxed out. On top of that, the plastic bushing on the locking grub screw had mushroomed due to the incorrect saddles and had to be shaved down a bit. This is a TIGHT bridge, even without the saddle lock tightened.

[Elwood]

Woohooo!!

[yowhatsshakin]

Man, that looks great. And like it is supposed to!

- Jos

[Danley]

Bit of an update: It's been 90+ degrees in SoCal and more humid than it has been in recent memory. I played my Jackson Soloist last night and covered it in Sweat. What I'm finding is that the questionable finish of the F100 makes me nervous to ever play it for fear of moisture damage, so pretty much it stays in the case. That's a shame since it's by far my favorite guitar to play.

Decided I need to put a finish on it. I'm about 60% leaning toward the original black (in nitro) and 40% leaning toward retaining the look of the guitar as-is for nostalgia's sake and putting a nitro clear on top of it (no grain filler if I go that route.) In a way it's fitting to paint the guitar black now that its owner is dead; sort of like Rolls Royce or Lotus changed the colors of their emblems. On the other hand I don't hate the precise color, it's what my dad saw, and the grain is pretty nice for mahogany esp. being a two piece body.

As for who does it, I think I have some leads on getting it done in nitro but still investigating. 40% leaning toward DIY depending on costs, I've refinished guitars in poly before but decided this one needs to be nitro. Also, the G&L log-books were checked and the guitar was made Jan. third, 1983 .