Funny you bring up this G&L question now-- I stumbled upon a carved top L2000 the other day and was asking myself the very same question
I don't know that it's a bad thing (not going down the carved top road), considering the cost associated with R&D, then having to compete with the companies who have already become strongly associated with that niche. I'd say keep doing what you're doing, but continue to improve the quality (introducing the M-series basses for example). Also, it would be pretty tough to compete with Carvin selling their gems customer direct
Non-G&L:
Ahhh-- I'm in the same boat; we have three main services with contemporary music, and a "Softer Sunday" service for those who like the old standards. We throw in some contemporary stuff, but slow it down. We also have been known to take some of the traditional stuff and speed it up
Our worship leader is slow with choosing music and often leaves us with just a few days to prepare (our rehearsal happens 1hr prior to service) so you've got to be on your toes. Heres what I do:
- Rework the chord sheets. I struggle with sever dyslexia, so taking a jumbled page of print and reorganizing it into something easier for my eyes to track helps on many different levels. It helps me discover patterns and themes, and really gets me into the song itself. Most of our team laughs at this, but after the initial chuckles, they often find bits and pieces of what I'm doing useful in their prep as well.
- Play the set through a few times (mistakes and all). This helps me identify my strengths and weaknesses in each song. Then I can focus the remainder of my attention on understanding and correcting the mistakes.
- Different positions. Once I am comfortable with the set, I return to each song and look for one or two other positions to play it in. Here I dissever where octaves enhance the roots, and make riffs easier to remember. I've also found this kind of prep useful for those times when our leader decides to improvise between verses and bridges.
Time wise, I try to set aside about two hours after dinner each night to prepare. It's great when I have a full week, but those times when he drops the set list on Thursday evening means I've got to put more time aside on Saturday morning. For those weeks when I'm not on the schedule, I look back at previous songs that I struggled with and work on them. AND, because I've taken up playing the bass, I go through my collection of Motown records and learn from the masters
For exercise I play the old Otis Redding tune, "Can't Turn You Loose" at Blues Brothers speed (it was their opening tune). THAT gives my fretting hand a real workout, while training myself to stay relaxed (otherwise the hand cramps up).
~Monahan