Something's Fishy Here... Oh, It's Lunch!

[ribeye1974]

Mighty fine lunch today: Pepper battered fish (haddock), raw veggies (celery, carrots, broccoli and cauliflower), potato wedges and jalapeno poppers.

G&L Topic: I'm not a noobie when it comes to playing, however, I am a noobie when it comes to G&L instruments. Two years ago while researching 'top brand' instruments is when I first learned about the history and quality of G&L. I have just had no exposure to them until then, no music store where I live, and all the players around are your typical 'Fender, Gibson or Ibanez' guys. The Comanche I ordered will be my first G&L, and the story behind it isn't exciting... I researched, saw then ordered. I know some, if not all, of you will have much better stories of your discovery of G&L, and your very first G&L instrument. That leads to my question(s) today: When did you discover G&L, what was your first G&L instrument (year, colour, specs and changes you may have made) and why did you choose it (and do you still have it)?

Non-G&L Topic: Keeping with an instrument theme today. We all probably have a friend, relative or acquaintance who owns an instrument that we wish was in our own collection. For me, it's my cousins vintage '57 Strat. It was bought new in '57 by my Great Uncle and he sold it to my cousin in the late '70's. The bridge pickup isn't original (and it doesn't work), it's been re-finished once, and is more worn than a hippies only pair of jeans (no offense to all the hippies out there ).. but it's perfect!! A real players guitar. So, my last question for today, which instrument of a friends, relatives or acquaintance would you most like to own? Any brand, any type... just no famous persons instrument, unless you know them.

I'm looking forward to hearing from everyone!

P.S. My second choice for the non G&L topic question is also a guitar of my cousins, a Lado Super Falcon. I can't even recall how many mini toggles and 3 way selectors it has... something like 53 different possible combinations, it resembles the control panel of a 747.

Cheers,
Roy

[astutzmann]

welcome to the club and congrats on your purchase.

Lunch today was home made chicken soup. I make batches of stock, freeze them and my wife takes them out and makes fresh soup. Nothing like it on a cold winter day.

My first G&L was and still is a 2008 Bluesboy that I custom ordered. I was playing it yesterday and man, its a great guitar. Paid full price with exchange rate, still worth it.

I'm in niagara falls area in canada as well.

As far as friends guitars go, I guess I would say that when I visit my luthier, he always has the most interesting guitars that he's working on. There are a bunch of them I would like. He's the luthier for Alex Lifeson of Rush and there are always some of Alex's guitars there. Other professional artists as well. I was there one day and someone from Argentina had sent him a WALL bass to work on. Sent it in the mail to canada from argentina, a bass that's worth $5k. amazing bass.

Currently, he is blueprinting Alex's "Hentor Stratocaster" which is a famous guitar from some of Rush's early albums. He as blueprinted it and is making clones.

I got to hold it and try it, what an amazing guitar, its a parstcaster, with a 30+ year old, one off quartersawn maple neck and the body is a strat body but its as thick as a les paul. Guitar must weigh 11-12 pounds. Who said more wood doesnt add tone!!!!!!!!!!!!

Of course there are all the gibson 335 guitars there as well. I want them all.

Alf

[ribeye1974]

Hey Alf, nice to meet you. My wife and I also freeze chicken/turkey stock and make homemade soup. We get our birds from Hutterites in Manitoba, as we live close to the border.

Sounds like you have your hands, and eyes, full at your luthiers shop... wowsers. If you could walk out the door with just one, which would it be?... The "Hentor Strat"??

[LeoFThe Champion]

Hey Roy, lunch sounds good in Canada. I remember reading a Vintage Guitar magazine in about 1992 that had an ad for a G&L Broadcaster. Always wish I had bought it because it was only $500.As for others guitars my friends have some great guitars but I have all I need.Mind you it's my Birthday today and if there was the 2nd shape Interceptor in 2 tone paint for sale somewhere I would buy it. That's the next one I want . Don't need it but I want one
Cheers
Anthony

[ribeye1974]

Happy birthday Anthony!! Lunch was excellent, thanks. Here's hoping you find that Interceptor!!

[louis cyfer]

lunch was sake nigiri.

a friend of mine has about a 100 guitars from 51-65. he has a real beat up 59 strat that i love. steve vai has a green charvel san dimas that i really like. his ibanez are junk, but that charvel is sweet. mark knopfler has his own signature strats, and one of his is particularly sweet. much better than his pensa suhr. so i would like that particular knopfler signature strat that mark himself owns. he used it on shangrila.

[ribeye1974]

Nice Louis, I read Knopfler used a Hagstrom Strat for a while in the 70's until it was stolen after a gig. Although, unless you know Knopfler, you kinda broke the rules, but since you're a senior member here, we'll let it slide! haha I play quite a few of his tunes, What's The Matter Baby is one of my fav's to play.. a lot of energy in that tune...

[louis cyfer]

Nice Louis, I read Knopfler used a Hagstrom Strat for a while in the 70's until it was stolen after a gig. Although, unless you know Knopfler, you kinda broke the rules, but since you're a senior member here, we'll let it slide! haha I play quite a few of his tunes, What's The Matter Baby is one of my fav's to play.. a lot of energy in that tune...

i didn't break any rules. i don't know him well, but i do know him, and i do know his guitars well. his engineer lives down thew street from me, and i jam with him sometimes. same with vai. his guitar tech lives up the street from me (few blocks), i am friends with him and met both pia and steve. i played several of eric johnson's guitars, and i don't like them much.

[blargfromouterspace]

A friend of mine has an old Guild acoustic that plays and sounds better than any acoustic guitar I've heard. I'd take that in a heartbeat. Its not particularly valuable but it is a great guitar. And the drummer in one of the bands I play with has an Ampeg V4 combo that I wish he'd sell to me - it just sits in his spare room doing nothing He's a stubborn bugger

I make batches of stock, freeze them and my wife takes them out and makes fresh soup. Nothing like it on a cold winter day

I do that too, it's well worth the small amount of effort

[ribeye1974]

Nice Louis, I read Knopfler used a Hagstrom Strat for a while in the 70's until it was stolen after a gig. Although, unless you know Knopfler, you kinda broke the rules, but since you're a senior member here, we'll let it slide! haha I play quite a few of his tunes, What's The Matter Baby is one of my fav's to play.. a lot of energy in that tune...

i didn't break any rules. i don't know him well, but i do know him, and i do know his guitars well. his engineer lives down thew street from me, and i jam with him sometimes. same with vai. his guitar tech lives up the street from me (few blocks), i am friends with him and met both pia and steve. i played several of eric johnson's guitars, and i don't like them much.

Hey, you should change the name of the street you guys all live on to "guitar tech alley" or something similar!... Just don't get caught....

[ribeye1974]

A friend of mine has an old Guild acoustic that plays and sounds better than any acoustic guitar I've heard. I'd take that in a heartbeat. Its not particularly valuable but it is a great guitar. And the drummer in one of the bands I play with has an Ampeg V4 combo that I wish he'd sell to me - it just sits in his spare room doing nothing He's a stubborn bugger

I make batches of stock, freeze them and my wife takes them out and makes fresh soup. Nothing like it on a cold winter day

I do that too, it's well worth the small amount of effort

Ohhh.. it's a shame it's just sitting there when there is someone who would enjoy and use it.

[Philby]

Welcome aboard the G&L Express, Roy.

G&L Topic: My first G&L was an '03 ASAT Special Tribute, made at the Samick factory in Korea I believe. It is clear honeyburst over ash with a satin maple neck. The big MFD's sound fantastic and it never goes out of tune. I won't ever sell it. I've been trying for a while now to replace the toilet seat pearl pickguard and white pickguard covers with black, but replacement G&L parts are hard to get in Australia.

Non-G&L topic: I haven't played many guitars owned by other people that I truly desired. Blarg's blonde ASAT is one that I could gladly take home tho.

[ribeye1974]

Welcome aboard the G&L Express, Roy.

G&L Topic: My first G&L was an '03 ASAT Special Tribute, made at the Samick factory in Korea I believe. It is clear honeyburst over ash with a satin maple neck. The big MFD's sound fantastic and it never goes out of tune. I won't ever sell it. I've been trying for a while now to replace the toilet seat pearl pickguard and white pickguard covers with black, but replacement G&L parts are hard to get in Australia.

Non-G&L topic: I haven't played many guitars owned by other people that I truly desired. Blarg's blonde ASAT is one that I could gladly take home tho.

My Comanche is a honeyburst over ash as well, satin maple neck too. ^weeks and 3 days since I ordered it, but who's counting? Oh, and Blarg, I think someone's eyeballing your guitbox...

[darwinohm]

Roy, thanks for entertaining us this week. We are always looking for new things from new members. I had lunch with the granddaughter today as we do on Mondays. It is always Mac and Cheese.

I got my first G&L, a Legacy HB in the summer of 2008. It was a 2006 and I had a roost of Fenders and this was my first G&L. It was awesome. I had it for about 4 months and a guy on CL was looking for a rosewood neck and had a beautiful Legacy with a GOT maple neck. That is what I wanted and we traded even up. As of today, I have 16 G&Ls, picked one up yesterday and haven't looked back. I have developed a preference for Asats but still have several Legacys. They are fine instruments. I have owned more than 20.

My original bandmate has an original 62 Fender Jazzmaster with the original paperwork and purchase receipt. He has offered it to me but I really am not looking for vintage stuff. a lot of the guitars today are superior to the vintage one's, especially the electronics in my opinion. I am not into relic guitars. -- Darwin

[ribeye1974]

Roy, thanks for entertaining us this week. We are always looking for new things from new members. I had lunch with the granddaughter today as we do on Mondays. It is always Mac and Cheese.

I got my first G&L, a Legacy HB in the summer of 2008. It was a 2006 and I had a roost of Fenders and this was my first G&L. It was awesome. I had it for about 4 months and a guy on CL was looking for a rosewood neck and had a beautiful Legacy with a GOT maple neck. That is what I wanted and we traded even up. As of today, I have 16 G&Ls, picked one up yesterday and haven't looked back. I have developed a preference for Asats but still have several Legacys. They are fine instruments. I have owned more than 20.

My original bandmate has an original 62 Fender Jazzmaster with the original paperwork and purchase receipt. He has offered it to me but I really am not looking for vintage stuff. a lot of the guitars today are superior to the vintage one's, especially the electronics in my opinion. I am not into relic guitars. -- Darwin

Right on Darwin, quite the collection! I think a lot of people would agree with you on vintage vs modern. Paul Reed Smith said he'd seen all these vintage guitars in high profile players collections sitting in glass cases, while they are playing modern guitars, then he realized it was because the vintage ones didn't play/sound as well...

[louis cyfer]

Roy, thanks for entertaining us this week. We are always looking for new things from new members. I had lunch with the granddaughter today as we do on Mondays. It is always Mac and Cheese.

I got my first G&L, a Legacy HB in the summer of 2008. It was a 2006 and I had a roost of Fenders and this was my first G&L. It was awesome. I had it for about 4 months and a guy on CL was looking for a rosewood neck and had a beautiful Legacy with a GOT maple neck. That is what I wanted and we traded even up. As of today, I have 16 G&Ls, picked one up yesterday and haven't looked back. I have developed a preference for Asats but still have several Legacys. They are fine instruments. I have owned more than 20.

My original bandmate has an original 62 Fender Jazzmaster with the original paperwork and purchase receipt. He has offered it to me but I really am not looking for vintage stuff. a lot of the guitars today are superior to the vintage one's, especially the electronics in my opinion. I am not into relic guitars. -- Darwin

Right on Darwin, quite the collection! I think a lot of people would agree with you on vintage vs modern. Paul Reed Smith said he'd seen all these vintage guitars in high profile players collections sitting in glass cases, while they are playing modern guitars, then he realized it was because the vintage ones didn't play/sound as well...

actually, most of them are worried about them. modern guitars are easier to replace. the road is a pretty treacherous place for vintage guitars. same with amps. a lot of them leave the dumbles at home when they tour.

[ribeye1974]

Roy, thanks for entertaining us this week. We are always looking for new things from new members. I had lunch with the granddaughter today as we do on Mondays. It is always Mac and Cheese.

I got my first G&L, a Legacy HB in the summer of 2008. It was a 2006 and I had a roost of Fenders and this was my first G&L. It was awesome. I had it for about 4 months and a guy on CL was looking for a rosewood neck and had a beautiful Legacy with a GOT maple neck. That is what I wanted and we traded even up. As of today, I have 16 G&Ls, picked one up yesterday and haven't looked back. I have developed a preference for Asats but still have several Legacys. They are fine instruments. I have owned more than 20.

My original bandmate has an original 62 Fender Jazzmaster with the original paperwork and purchase receipt. He has offered it to me but I really am not looking for vintage stuff. a lot of the guitars today are superior to the vintage one's, especially the electronics in my opinion. I am not into relic guitars. -- Darwin

Right on Darwin, quite the collection! I think a lot of people would agree with you on vintage vs modern. Paul Reed Smith said he'd seen all these vintage guitars in high profile players collections sitting in glass cases, while they are playing modern guitars, then he realized it was because the vintage ones didn't play/sound as well...

actually, most of them are worried about them. modern guitars are easier to replace. the road is a pretty treacherous place for vintage guitars. same with amps. a lot of them leave the dumbles at home when they tour.

My cousin toured with his '57 strat, he's retired now, but his theory was 'if it's worth playing, play it'... You can see the vid of Paul talking about the players preferring how modern guitars play over the vintage ones on youtube, he says something along the lines of "how crappy the old ones are set up".. not an exact quote, but something to that effect. The only 2 real vintage instruments I've played are my cousins strat, and a vintage Jazz bass, both play and sound like a dream, so I'm not sure I agree with PRS however...

[louis cyfer]

Roy, thanks for entertaining us this week. We are always looking for new things from new members. I had lunch with the granddaughter today as we do on Mondays. It is always Mac and Cheese.

I got my first G&L, a Legacy HB in the summer of 2008. It was a 2006 and I had a roost of Fenders and this was my first G&L. It was awesome. I had it for about 4 months and a guy on CL was looking for a rosewood neck and had a beautiful Legacy with a GOT maple neck. That is what I wanted and we traded even up. As of today, I have 16 G&Ls, picked one up yesterday and haven't looked back. I have developed a preference for Asats but still have several Legacys. They are fine instruments. I have owned more than 20.

My original bandmate has an original 62 Fender Jazzmaster with the original paperwork and purchase receipt. He has offered it to me but I really am not looking for vintage stuff. a lot of the guitars today are superior to the vintage one's, especially the electronics in my opinion. I am not into relic guitars. -- Darwin

Right on Darwin, quite the collection! I think a lot of people would agree with you on vintage vs modern. Paul Reed Smith said he'd seen all these vintage guitars in high profile players collections sitting in glass cases, while they are playing modern guitars, then he realized it was because the vintage ones didn't play/sound as well...

actually, most of them are worried about them. modern guitars are easier to replace. the road is a pretty treacherous place for vintage guitars. same with amps. a lot of them leave the dumbles at home when they tour.

My cousin toured with his '57 strat, he's retired now, but his theory was 'if it's worth playing, play it'...

that is mine too, but a lot of high profile people don't think that way.

[ribeye1974]

Had to edit my last post, accidentally fired it off without finishing... ... did I mention I'm new to forums... I still haven't figured out how to only quote a section of someone's post, instead of the whole thing...

[KenC]

My first G&L was an '83 SB-1. I was playing electric bass in a band at the time, and after getting a G&L sales pitch from a local dealer got really GASsy for a G&L guitar for playing rhythm and working out chord progressions (I normally learn tunes on guitar and then work out bass lines). After visiting the old G&LDP in the late 90s, I had my heart set on finding an SC-1. I figured it would have to be the cheapest used G&L available, but I didn't come across one until last year (and boy was it worth the wait!). Anyway, I was spending a lot of time playing my Fender Jazz and was feeling a bit of pain in my upper back from it. I got a $500 bonus at work and headed straight to the guitar shop to find the lightest bass they had. It turned out that their lightest bass was the SB-1, which had been stripped and refinished - neck and body - by a previous owner. The body has a very thin blonde finish, and the neck (without any headstock decals) was done in a very dark satin. It plays wonderfully, though.

The G&L that got me started as a collector came over ten years later. I had just moved to DC for a new job, and had to leave my family behind in Ohio while we tried to sell our house. I knew that I would be spending potentially several months subletting somebody's basement apartment, so I figured it would be important for my sanity to have something to do. My first weekend in town I stopped by a locally-owned used guitar store, and there on the wall was a blonde/BEM '98 ASAT Classic. I bought it that day, and my playing improved more in a span of two weeks with that guitar than it had in the previous twenty years.

I still have both the SB-1 and the ASAT Classic. I'm trying not to cross the line from collector to hoarder, but it can be difficult at times. So far I've only sold off one G&L (an '88 ASAT), and that was to make room for an inbound El Toro. I'd probably be more inclined to trade any of my G&Ls than to sell them, but I never get proactive about hunting down those trade opportunities.

Instruments I'm jealous of? Normally it's the other way around for me. I have been guilty of inducing serious G&L gas among some friends. The one friend's guitar I've been blown away by is a PRS employee guitar. I can't really describe the details, but it's basically one of their standard double-cuts with unbelievably flamed woods for the body and neck, and every cosmetic upgrade possible. I understand that long-term employees are allowed to purchase highly customized guitars on their employment anniversaries, and these show up from time to time on the local used guitar market.

Ken

[KenC]

Had to edit my last post, accidentally fired it off without finishing... ... did I mention I'm new to forums... I still haven't figured out how to only quote a section of someone's post, instead of the whole thing...

Click "post reply" first, then highlight the words you want in the thread window at the bottom of the screen and click "quote" in that message's section.

Ken

[ribeye1974]

Had to edit my last post, accidentally fired it off without finishing... ... did I mention I'm new to forums... I still haven't figured out how to only quote a section of someone's post, instead of the whole thing...

Open a reply first, then highlight the section in the thread window at the bottom of the screen and click "quote" in that message's section.

Ken

Ahhhh... excellent Ken, thanks a bunch!

[blargfromouterspace]

Oh, and Blarg, I think someone's eyeballing your guitbox...

He's not alone, just about everyone that plays it wants to take it home. It the blonde effect

[cuzwilly]

Lunch was fried chicken mashed potatoes & green beans
My first G&L story: 1983 two music friends opened a music store. I came in the store one day my friend dave told me they got a new guitar dealership G&L. He told me the G&L history story. Picked up the Nighthawk plugged it into a used Deluxe reverb. I've had that guitar ever since.

A guy I jam with has a Gibson Birdland he bought new back in the day. I don't know the year but he is 77 and still an amazing guitar player. Besides a little playing wear the guitar looks sounds & plays great.

[ribeye1974]

Anyway, I was spending a lot of time playing my Fender Jazz and was feeling a bit of pain in my upper back from it.

My brother plays bass, Fender Jazz as well, and for the same reason you mention, the back pain, I'm trying to get him to open his wallet a little and go for something lighter, I'll pass on the SB-1 info.

The one friend's guitar I've been blown away by is a PRS employee guitar.

After a long weeding out process, my last two choices for my order was between the Comanche and a PRS. Expanded neck profile options on the G&L's, reviews and price ended up being the difference makers.

[ribeye1974]

I don't know the year but he is 77 and still an amazing guitar player.

Right on! I hope I'm still pluckin' away at that age. It's so nice hearing about everyone's first G&L.... I'm behind by a few decades, but at least I found this site, great way to get caught up a wee bit. Thanks everybody!!

[meursault]

what the hell did i eat yesterday ? ... well... anyway...

i already wrote on this forum about how i came to G&L... i even made a thread about it !

it's because of a band i saw in the late 90's... the guitarist completely blew me away with his sound and play... he mostly played a early '90 asat or a legacy... a year ago i was looking to trade my '91 LP lite for a high-end tele, it has to have rosewood fretboard, it's only aesthetic, i just like it ! go figure it out !... i tried a lot of different fender's, US, mex, Jap... some were cool, the mex are pretty cool for the price, but nothing really exciting... then i saw someone who wanted to trade his G&L asat classic for something with humbuckers... G&L ? it reminds me something ! damn yes, geoff farina used to play it with Karate... i just jumped on it without even try it... first try in the train unplugged, of course... good resonance but the first thing that really impressed me was its playability, wow what a pleasure !... at home, plugged ... how do you say "coup de foudre" in english, because i can't find better words... my gibsons are taking dust since then... i'm selling them today to payback my mother who lent me money (i'm still ashamed) to buy my second asat a couple of week ago...

no one i know have a guitar i want in his collection...


edit : why can't we use more than 5 smilies ?

[astutzmann]

yes I'd like the Hentor Strat, except all the fantastic guitars I see and want are right handed and I play lefty, so that's a huge problem.

[ribeye1974]

yes I'd like the Hentor Strat, except all the fantastic guitars I see and want are right handed and I play lefty, so that's a huge problem.

Oh I see. When I was 16 years old, my cousin , who is left handed, wanted to learn how to play guitar. I strung my guitar upside down so he could play 'right way up', and I learned to play right handed, upside down. It was actually quite easy for me, chording was like nothing changed, riffs were a fair bit harder at first. Then a few years later, someone mentioned to me that a mandolin standard tuning is, low to high - G,D,A,E ... the top 4 strings of a guitar, upside down... so without ever touching a mandolin before, I was able to just pick it up and wail away. My grandfather was a talented mandolin player, so when my mother saw I could play, next time she went to the city (Winnipeg) she came back with a Fender electric/acoustic mandolin for me. Cool parents are cool... I tried violin as well, since they are also tuned like a mandolin, didn't go smooth at all, the violin just kept sliding down into "guitar grip" position...

[lesdavaz]

When I was in high school in the early '70's, everyone played Gibsons though Marshalls and Hiwatts. I didn't play Fender guitars until I was in my early 40's and really grew to love single-coils, bolt-on necks and alder and ash bodies. G&L's are simply the highest expression of Fender guitars. I sold a Gibson Chet Atkins at a guitar show in 2000, walked across the ailse and bought a sunburst ASAT classic with the proceeds...I have four now and have sold two. They are tremendous values.

I don't covet anyone else' guitars. At one time or another, I have had them all and, unlike many people, don't regret selling any of them. I think the allure of vintage instruments to players is largely nostalgic. The good vintage guitars were much easier to play and sounded better than what you played just before buying one when you were learning. They are not necessarily easier to play now, nor do they sound better.

If you pick up a guitar anywhere, anytime, and can't put it down--BUY IT.

[KenC]

Anyway, I was spending a lot of time playing my Fender Jazz and was feeling a bit of pain in my upper back from it.

My brother plays bass, Fender Jazz as well, and for the same reason you mention, the back pain, I'm trying to get him to open his wallet a little and go for something lighter, I'll pass on the SB-1 info.

Disclaimer: I was referring to a "first style" SB-1 from 1982-'83 production. They had scaled-down bodies made of lightweight maple (at least all of my SCs and SBs are pretty light). After '84 they had larger bodies and tended to be made of ash. I haven't played any of those later ones, but I expect they would be comparable in weight to any other G&L.

Ken

[ribeye1974]

Anyway, I was spending a lot of time playing my Fender Jazz and was feeling a bit of pain in my upper back from it.

My brother plays bass, Fender Jazz as well, and for the same reason you mention, the back pain, I'm trying to get him to open his wallet a little and go for something lighter, I'll pass on the SB-1 info.

Disclaimer: I was referring to a "first style" SB-1 from 1982-'83 production. They had scaled-down bodies made of lightweight maple (at least all of my SCs and SBs are pretty light). After '84 they had larger bodies and tended to be made of ash. I haven't played any of those later ones, but I expect they would be comparable in weight to any other G&L.

Ken

Good to know!.. Thanks Ken!!