G&L

[Gary]

What happened to G&L??? I haven't been on here in years but 25 years ago it was humming along with a ton of enthusiasts. It seems as though it has no standing any longer among guitar manufactureres. I'm baffled!

[tomanche]

Welcome back, Gary. I think the brand G&L is doing ok. For example, they're building some beautiful guitars that get posted here.
The G&LDP (forum) is less lively than it once was. I think that's less a reflection of the brand's popularity and more about a general decline in forum participation. In my (narrow) field of interests, it's happening at the Collings forum, The Gear Page, TPDRI, bicycle fora, etc.

[Gary]

Perhaps you're right. It just doesn't seem as if the brand gathers the enthusiam it once had.

[SUaPYG]

I agree, Gary. G&L hardly makes it into the 'top ten' best guitar lists published in the media. Sweetwater has been fairly active in the BTO and Custom Shop arena of late. Perhaps Sweetwater is growing a niche for the brand?
A better marketing campaign out of Fullerton could help. But, then again, the Fullerton factory may be close to desired capacity.

[sam]

Hi Gary!

Always good to see folks back again. Yep, not as busy, but a faithful few and some new folks joining. There is some really cool stuff coming out of Fullerton these days. As mentioned, all the BTO / Custom stuff posted makes me wish I could hit the lottery and go on a spending spree.

Over the years people got busy and I’ve heard the G&L facebook page has some activity. Maybe old GLDP members are there. I’m not on facebook so miss out on anything there.

[DanDoulogos]

Hi Gary. I use an AI to examine the popularity of G&L guitars from its inception in 1980.

Essentially the brand is growing slowly, but steadily, with a loyal fan base.

I compared AI researched "brand recognition" and generated these popularity scores:
Fender: 100%
Gibson: 95%
Ibanez: 85%
PRS: 80%
Epiphone: 75%
Suhr: 55%
G&L: 50%
Reverend: 40%
Eastwood: 35%
Keisel: 30%

G&L is considered a niche brand in the boutique or enthusiast category.
G&L is praised for:
- High build quality
- Innovative features (like MFD pickups)
- Leo Fender’s legacy

However, The G&L brand lacks the mainstream visibility of the bigger brands and is often chosen by players looking for something different or more refined.

All of which is to say that the G&L brand hasn't achieved mainstream visibility, but that doesn't mean it is less popular than it has been in former days. The reality is it is more popular now than it has ever been, but it's popularity isn't mainstream - its more boutique/niche.

Clearly this message board is less trafficked now that it was when I joined in 2016 - but I don't chalk that up to the brands falling out of favor with its fans. Rather I think Message Boards like this are no longer mainstream. Social media has steamrolled over this format to the point where those of us who still post on here are just.. old.

There is something charming about a message board. It's old fashioned. You post something and people likely won't respond for days. Older folks who've posted in forums for 30 years or more, feel comfortable on a board like this - but the folks under 30? They're used to instantaneous interaction. A board like this doesn't accommodate people who have been raised to expect immediate interaction in every aspect of their life.

So I expect a lot of the "thinning out" of this board over the years, has much more to do with this format not being "social media", than with the popularity of the G&L brand.

G&L is almost as popular as Suhr guitars - and for a lot of the same reasons - they are seen as boutique guitars.

[glvourot]

I joined the GBL forum in 2010 and I think that was just after they switched to a new format. From what I understand that was a turning point for the forum as many members at the time just drifted away. You can still get excellent guitar information here though and the knowledgebase tab is also a great resource. Living in BC it has always been a challenge to find ANY G&L's in the flesh and one has to be very patient until something pops up. I still really like the brand and am interested in the new models they have released in the last few years, however the G&L hunt no longer interests me and I went with a Fender as my most recent guitar purchase. The reason? I was able to actually play it before I bought it. In a store !

[Gary]

Looking from 50,000 feet up it seems as though something has changed. G&L, locally, was boutique and known for its advancement of tried and true guitar tech. It seems like its fallen off the map. Even when I go to the website its not the same. Still own an ASAT Super that I love but nothing in the line-up just jumps out any longer. Maybe its all the same and its just me. But it seemed like, at one point, G&L would release a custom shop guitar, Jr, Super, and there would be excitement. I don't see that excitement any longer.

[Craig]

Hi Gary,

Check out this article (from Apple News) about G&L in the July issue of Guitar World (link will open in a new tab):
GW_article

Also check out these Social Media links, to get a better picture of what G&L has been doing:

SOCIAL MEDIA

Note: each link will open in a new tab.

G&L Guitars
Facebook: gnlguitars
Instagram: glguitars
Twitter: gandlguitars
Youtube: gl_guitars

G&L Custom Shop
Facebook: gandlcustomshop
Instagram: glguitars_custom_shop

CLF Research
Facebook: clfresearch
Instagram: clfresearch
Youtube: clfresearch

Hope this helps.

[DanDoulogos]

I checked out that article and was *really* quite surprised by this quote:

"We have so many legacy players, like David Gilmour, Kenny Aaronson and Tom Hamilton, and newer players are starting to notice"

What's this? David Gilmour? That don't seem right, even though I desperately would love to see it.

[Gary]

Thanks Craig. It still seems like G&L - for whatever reason - has lost alot of the following it had.

[mutts]

As others have said- forums in general are seeing less traffic.

Looking from 50,000 feet up it seems as though something has changed. G&L, locally, was boutique and known for its advancement of tried and true guitar tech. It seems like its fallen off the map. Even when I go to the website its not the same. Still own an ASAT Super that I love but nothing in the line-up just jumps out any longer. Maybe its all the same and its just me. But it seemed like, at one point, G&L would release a custom shop guitar, Jr, Super, and there would be excitement. I don't see that excitement any longer.

I don't know if I see the same level of excitemnt for any brand as there used to be. Might just be my perspective I suppose.
Personally, I miss the 1 5/8ths bridge width. My older G&Ls all had that width.
I would have likely bought a Doheny but 1 11/16ths with 21 frets turns me off just enough that I've passed thus far.
I feel like prices for USA made have gotten too high. Outpacing inflation, imo. Some good deals can be had on new ones once the price drops start kicking in. I remember G&L as being better than Fender and costing less. Now they pretty much cost the same or even more.

Oh well, can still buy used or just put that money towards another Dr Z!

[Challenger]

Lots of good information on here if you search for it. Posting pictures on this forum is tediously painful, however. I’ve shared a few pictures on here but share almost all my pictures on the Fans of G&L Facebook page. I can share a picture with one click in the Facebook group. Here it is an overly complicated series of steps.

[neepheid]

I honestly think G&L are in trouble. It started a couple of years ago when I noticed that UK/Europe stock in stores had dwindled away to virtually nothing, then some retailers stopped listing them. I hear rumours of trouble from people in various bass related places I frequent online. It's a damn shame, I love my G&L CLF L-1000 and have owned several Tributes over the years. But ever since I was introduced to G&L instruments I've detected this aura of G&L being like a "best kept secret" and "secret owners club" type of brand. That might have worked 10-20 years ago, but in this day and age, where only the "loudest" get noticed, it's a precarious existence in a world where the attention span is ever shortening.

[Pork Rind]

I’m wondering what’s going on. There’s a discussion on one of the Facebook groups where a dealer that claims to be in contact is saying that the factory is closed for “renovations”. Others that claim to be in the know are saying that things have been dire enough for a while that there’s either an immediate sale or a bankruptcy proceeding in the works. Of course, this being the Internet, all of these people could be totally making things up. But at least a couple of them seemed to have reputable posting histories and are dealers.

[sam]

Interesting stuff floating in the interweb and since I’m not on any Facebook page I’m out of the loop. Did have someone I know who’s privy to Facebook information bring this to my attention today. There’s too much good stuff coming out of Fullerton I will still look on the positive side. I’m waiting on the 50th Anniversary model in 2030!

[Expert_Fretwork]

The entire factory was furloughed on Monday with no real explanation. Supposedly we're reopening on the 29th, but there has been zero communication from the McLarens as to what is going on.

We're just as in the dark as all of you on the outside are.

[Pork Rind]

The entire factory was furloughed on Monday with no real explanation. Several employees, including myself, hadn't received pay in weeks. Supposedly we're reopening on the 29th, but there has been zero communication from the McLarens as to what is going on.

We're just as in the dark as all of you on the outside are.

That is incredibly rough. I wish you and the other workers the best of luck here. With back pay, of course.

[Expert_Fretwork]

The entire factory was furloughed on Monday with no real explanation. Several employees, including myself, hadn't received pay in weeks. Supposedly we're reopening on the 29th, but there has been zero communication from the McLarens as to what is going on.

We're just as in the dark as all of you on the outside are.

That is incredibly rough. I wish you and the other workers the best of luck here. With back pay, of course.

We're all just waiting to see for another week at this point.

[rblood]

The entire factory was furloughed on Monday with no real explanation. Several employees, including myself, hadn't received pay in weeks. Supposedly we're reopening on the 29th, but there has been zero communication from the McLarens as to what is going on.

We're just as in the dark as all of you on the outside are.

Dang James! Really sorry to hear that.

[sam]

James, Very sorry to hear this news, thank you for enlightening us. Will look forward to the next shoe to drop, be it refinanced, sold or closed. Definitely hoping to see the G&L brand remaining.

[Expert_Fretwork]

Last update we had is that they'll call us on the 28th or 29th. So we're all sitting and spinning until then.

[tomanche]

Shocked and saddened to read this news. My heart goes out to all the employees.

[sam]

News traveled to Thegearpage, this posted last night. Some G&L supporters there as well.

https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index ... 3.2704071/

[JagInTheBag]

I am hopeful G&L will come out on the other side of this okay. I feel really bad for the folks working at Fullerton. They have always done their best to deliver quality and genuine care for each build- from Tributes to Custom Shop. Glad to hear @Expert_Fretwork have been paid current. We will see what the future holds come the end of the month.

[SUaPYG]

I sincerely hope the McLarens can work things out so that all the talented and great people who make these amazing instruments can continue doing what they love.

[LarryNJ]

I was surprised to see this here.
The output from G&L shown here has been top-rate, so I assumed everything was A-OK.

Whatever the issues are and whatever the solution may be, I hope there will be a positive outcome-meaning keep on building 'em, in Fullerton-please.

I've owned 4 Basses:
ASAT
SB-2
L2K
M2K

With all the product on the market, every G&L instrument I've owned & played has been first-rate, pro-level, lacking nothing and sounding TIGHT.

The Company has always been a better alternative to Fender and a worthy "adversary" to EBMM, the other 2 major USA builders.
I really hope they stick around and fix what needs to be fixed.