NGD: 1985 G&L Cavalier

Hello and thanks for checking out my NGD!

I just received this today and I am thrilled to have located it and been able to get it.
I had one of the very first G&L Cavaliers ever made and foolishly sold it many years ago.

Here is a picture (from the seller). I won't be able to get pics for a few days probably.

Sweet guitar and cool story Do you know serial number on this one and how far off from your last?

Looking forward to more pics and give tone report when ya can

totally sweet !! .... My Cavalier at the moment is my favorite G&L of 10 G&L's I have , mine is not near as nice as yours but I bought it for a player and it plays beautiful , I didn't want to worry about scratches and such when out playing , I wouldn't want to take your Cavalier out of the house totally beautiful !!

Thank you!

It actually isn't as clean as the pic makes it look. It has weather checking on the body front and back, and several little nicks, etc. on the body and neck.

I am okay with that though, as you mentioned, it is a player, not a collectible.

I don't have the serial number handy for my first one, so I am not sure the difference in the s/n. I worked at a music store that was a G&L dealer when they first came out and I pre-ordered one as soon as they were announced. It was possibly the first red one sold. I purchased a separate mini-hum and routed a middle pup space in the body and PG and wired it with a 5-way, like a Strat. I traced it to Montana, a few years back, but the trail is long cold. I keep hoping someday ....

This guitar is every bit as nice as I remember that one was, so I am very pleased with it.

FF, do you have any pics of yours?

you can go to porn and look up NGD 1984 Cavalier E , it's down in the middle of the page ..... I can't copy the link for the page , some reason it just says "guitarsbyleo" the main address for the site


http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y40 ... e8fc21.jpg


http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y40 ... fa7e80.jpg

http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y40 ... 29838e.jpg

http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y40 ... 022733.jpg

looks very much like one of my babies now departed. although looks like the trem arm on yours was swapped out for the larger size? at least from the arm in the pic. have to admit i'm a sucker for a burst matching headstock. here's a few of mine from past days. enjoy your new Cav. great guitars and Leo's hummer's are something special.

love it, congratulations!

Jonc - you have any examples of the matching burst headstock?

Have to agree with you - that burst headstock is a winner.

Congrats on your Cavalier ant_riv! Looks like a keeper to me.

Thanks guys!
Yeah, the arm isn't original, but everything else is. This arm isn't even G&L and it doesn't fit very well. I will start looking to find an original, but that will probably take years and I doubt I'll be able to afford it when I find one. Also, the chrome on the knobs is flaking. Like I said, the pics make the guitar look cleaner than it is (but it isn't bad).

FF, thank you for sharing the pics! It looks beautiful. I love to see guitars that have been 'naturally reliced' by years of play. Yours is in great shape!

jonc, nice pics also! Your taste is impeccable! That Interceptor is very cool. I had a chance to buy one brand new, at about the same time years ago, in red/black. At the time, I was very against the whole radical guitar shape '80s trend so I told the rep "no way would I EVER play something like that". The thud you hear is me kicking myself in the ---.

Congrats on the Cav, and welcome to G&LDP! I think I was keeping an eye on that same Cavalier, and hoping somebody would pull the trigger on it before I developed GAS pangs. Thanks for doing that!

Cavaliers are great guitars. Was your first one clear red like this?





Since this seems to be "Show Off Your Cavalier" Day...

Ken

Yes it was Ken, except no active electronics. Yours is a great looking guitar and that color would have been my first choice. Although, I have always liked the two-tone burst and the color is better in person than in pictures.

I'm glad that I saved you your gas expense! It didn't help mine though, it took me two weeks to get the cash together, as I wasn't anticipating a purchase. I half-hoped it would be gone/wouldn't be gone.

I'm glad it was still available. I really like this guitar more each time I play it.

I've had GAS for a Cavalier for awhile now. It would be great to see a reissue.

I've had GAS for a Cavalier for awhile now. It would be great to see a reissue.

We had some discussions early in the LE2 design about resurrecting either the Cavalier or HG pickup, but it didn't get any traction.

Ken

KenC- I wish it were a simple matter of pup route programming, but the fact is, they would have to retool for bobbins and bobbin covers, etc. Too $$$- now, if they did an offset body, this would be a great pup to pair it with. I think just the look would resonate deeply with the alt rock crowd.

It would be great to see a reissue!

I agree that justifying the cost of the start-up tooling would likely be a large obstacle when the original didn't set any sales records.
That also means that there is a limited number of people who know what the Cavalier can do, so the prospective market is probably considered too small.

They are great guitars!

KenC- I wish it were a simple matter of pup route programming, but the fact is, they would have to retool for bobbins and bobbin covers, etc. Too $$$- now, if they did an offset body, this would be a great pup to pair it with. I think just the look would resonate deeply with the alt rock crowd.

I remember that we just wouldn't have had enough units ordered to make the R&D on a Cavalier pickup cost-effective.

That's an interesting thought about Cavalier pickups in an offset-waist body. What about a scaled-down JB body?

Ken