Easin' Into Monday

Greetings fellow pickers!

I am pretty new here, so a brief bio is in order. My name is Jeremy Glatz, I a live in Helena, Montana. I am 34 years old, and have owned a G&L for almost 20 years. I am an engineer, Industrial and Management by training, but I have been in IT my whole career. Actually I was doing spot contracting in high-school as a C programmer. Currently, I run a very small Business Process Outsourcing and Charting solutions company. I don't do a whole lot of coding anymore, but a little. Nothing cool and exciting like Jos though, just straight business process automation.

Lunch today is leftover steak from the weekend. I bring leftovers most days, I like to get in to work, and then get out!

Currently, I am working on rebuilding my trusty F-100. Basically, that entails restoring the electronics to the as-designed/as-built configuration. I have already learned a lot about my guitar by posting the picture on this board. For example, I thought the fret-board was rosewood. Another poster told me it was ebony, and I think he is right! So I will post little updates on great rebuild here.

I starting coming here because of two things, first there is a lot of expertise running around. And second, overall people are really respectful and nice. I saw a post were a new player had a totally easy question, and the way it played out laid bare that he knew VERY little about the guitar. But he got his answer, and nobody even gave off the slightest “you're a moron vibe”. So good-on you all!

One of the reasons that I am a G&L enthusiast is the consistent quality of instruments they have produced over the life of the company. Obviously right? But not so fast. I counted today, I think I have played 17 G&L's in my life. I have owned 5, currently own 3. I have owned 4 USA's, 1 Tribute. All of these had no major finish, setup, or obvious electronics issues. I have only played a similar number of Fenders and Gibson's, but a pretty high percentage needed help in one way or another.

Non G&L
So that leads me to my Non G&L question for the day. Are there other vendors for music equipment that you rely on for consistent high quality gear? Someone you fearlessly recommend? I don't have a lot, but I do use Death Valley Cables almost exclusively now.

G&L
Relative to G&L, what keeps you coming back? Innovative products? Consistent quality? The company story? Something I don't know about? What makes you an enthusiast? For me it's the consistent quality, and I like having a different headstock than the majority of folks. Shallow? Maybe, but FUN!

Howdy Jeremy,

Thanks for jumping in today and getting the week off to a great start.

Consistent quality and fearless recommendations? Would have to throw Mesa Boogie and Martin in that mix. Have not owned multiple items from these guys but the ones I do own and others played through have been right on the money.

Those MFD's and G&L necks keep me coming back.

I like the G&L neck a lot, nice and round, chubby yet comfy. The pickups blew me away, but it was the feel the first enticed me. The quality is ridiculous, and if they were prices for quality they would sit with PRS's. (not saying PRS are necessarily worth the price, but can't argue they are a nice guitar). Definitely lump them beside my Mesa, due to some actions and inconsistency in the past by Carvin, G&L is the company I recommend nowadays.

I make my own cables, Strymon is a go to pedal company for me, I have their el capistan dtape echo and ob.1 compressor/boost, both very very pedals. The compressor is pretty clear and only has minimal noise if you dime the compression, never really sqaushes.

2 Votes for Mesa. We may get a few of those. They seem to have a lot of happy customers.

A good word for Martin. I have 1 Martin, a mahogany C series. Great little guitar. The setup when I bought it was miserable.The nut was fine, but I lowered the action like 3/64 at the bridge. (Sorry of you metric folks, my ruler only has inches and my calculator is busted.) And it is still pretty high. Just short of 9/64's if I recall. Also the neck relief was backed all the way off so the neck had a heck of a bow with really light strings. Easily setup, and definitely setup things, not defects--but could have been a little sharper.

I agree on the feel.

I'll put a word or two in for Moog and Alesis. G&L make's reliable instruments. They've saved my butt more than a few times.


Cheers,

Will

Hi Jeremy,

Here's another guy suggesting Mesa Engineering as a company consistently delivering high quality products. As far as guitars go, I love PRS's for set necks and Bill Collings for acoustic. But both come with the higher price tag which aversely affects the quality/price ratio.

The high quality delivered by G&L is what has always brought me back. Now in addition, it is this dream of creating a collection with all relevant ASAT models ever released. Love the body shape and the necks just fit my style, personality, and physique very well.

Good start Jeremy!

- Jos

I find Yamaha and Godin to produce guitars of consistent quality, and I am very happy with the one instrument that I own from each of the 2 companies. I have to qualify about Yamaha since it makes everything from the least expensive introductory instruments to professional level instruments: I find almost all intermediate to professional quality guitars from Yamaha great and reliable.

As for G&L, I guess it has be quality and sound of the instruments coupled with very good value for my money.

Kit

Nice start Jeremy. Good to hear from Montana. I was last there on my Gold Wing in probably 94.

I had leftover Pork Loin and Carrots/Celery /Potatoes from dinner last night.

There is a lot of good information on this board. If they haven't done it, it probably doesn't need to be done!

I will comment on the support I have received from other manufactures. I have never need support from G&L although if there are issues, Craig usually makes it happen. I purchased an Adamas Composite (Ovation) ,as is, but new, (Bracing Loose). I knew what I was getting and I sent it back to Adamas and they fixed it to better than new as they used different glue on the bracing. The front of the guitar had been hit and the bracing came loose. The GC doesn't mess with anything like this. The charge for this repair was $350 from the factory including shipping and it came back within two weeks and looked and played perfect. They had also done a set up to my request (Low Action). Their support is superb. I have also contacted Ernie Ball several times for guitar build dating on my models. They have been superb. Two years ago I contacted Rickenbacker on a paint question. I never hear back. I have already commented about Gibson. It takes more than hype to be a top product.

Product quality from G&L on the guitars that I have owned (12),( I still have 10), has been superb. I cannot comment on the factory setup as I have only had one new and it was fine. I have many Fenders over the years and they have not had a consistent build quality. I had a recent American Deluxe Strat HSS that the string alignment over the H pickup was terrible. I took it back to the GC and they said "that is how they are and it is not adjustable". I knew I would be told that when I brought it back. I fixed it perfectly myself as I prefer not having anyone else work on my guitars. I have also had some Fenders that were setup perfectly. There paint and finish is usually perfect although I have seen Ash bodys with the grain not filled before painting. The paint work on most of the Gibsons that I have looked at in recent years has been fair at the best. I think that their Montana facility is their best. It is not unusual to see a couple of LP broken head stocks at the GC during the year. That is like the neck pocket cracks on Fenders that people try to convince you is normal. It may be normal but is not right! I am fortunate in that my guitars do not have ailments. My guitars probably wish they could say the same about their owner! Darwin

Last edited by darwinohm on Mon Dec 06, 2010 4:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.

DarwinOhm. Points for bringing up the Montana Gibson Facility. It's an acoustic only factory. I played a bunch of stuff in the show room (acoustics), um about a year ago. They were very reliably nice. But boy, they want an arm and a leg. Being a native Montanan I would like to get one. But it's a ways down the list of gear purchases.

Hi Jeremy,

Another plug here for Yamaha. I've gone through quite a bit of home studio gear over the years, from sequencers to drum machines, mixers, keyboards, synths and effects. Yamaha is the only stuff that I've NEVER had any trouble with. It's nuke proof. Not always intuitive to use, but indestructible. I've had good service from Boss/Roland gear too. Another brand I've been converted to are Larrivee acoustic guitars. They're the G&L of acoustic guitars. Insanely good quality instruments for the price.

The thing that keeps me interested in G&L is that they're a little bit boutique. You can get affordable custom builds done and no two guitars feel exactly the same - especially the older ones where there was greater human input. As others have said, G&L's quality control puts a lot of other manufacturers to shame. I feel that Fender have been getting on top of things recently. On my last trip to a music shop I played 10-12 strats and teles and nearly all of them felt and sounded great. The necks in particular were finished perfectly. Gibson on the other hand have a LOT of work to do. How they sell guitars to a knowledgeable player at those prices is beyond me. In fact I'd say their Epiphone line is more consistently built than the US stuff. Cheaper hardware yes, but better put together and finished.

...I am pretty new here... Are there other vendors for music equipment that you rely on for consistent high quality gear?...Relative to G&L, what keeps you coming back?...

Planet Waves seems to have decent products like cables, straps and "headstock leashes" for acoustics you don't want to add neck strap buttons too, etc. So I guess I can recommend them. They're probably part of Kamann Corp? Or at least their rep seems to bring the Planet Waves stuff to the stores.

Coming back to a G&L guitar recently (I'm new here too) after years of tele and strat shaped partsocasters. I had an early ASSET (used) with the big MFD pickups decades ago.

A couple of weeks ago I just got fed up with my partsocasters I had cobbled together last year. It just seemed like I was always fiddling with them to get them to sound right for the li'l ol' gigs I do now. And I could never trust the trems, so always blocked them.

Found a NOS '05 S500 I thought sounded great for the kinda sounds I like so traded in some junk and a couple of Benjamins.
The trem works great on these, and I love that bass roll-off pot. It's my only guitar presently! The MFD's work great for dinner-jazz!

Edit: Thanks Jeremy

Last edited by standards guy on Mon Dec 06, 2010 6:13 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Hi Jeremy. Seems like everyone who frequents this board is in some field of science, me included. I wonder if G&L know this.

I'll mention Mesa again as a reliable, quality brand. I had an F30 once and really regret selling it. They are pretty expensive, their prices are far beyond what I'd pay, but used they're reasonable. Ernie Ball strings have been good for me for the last 10 years or so. I think I've broken two in that time. In the world of pedals, the ones which seem to last and work virtually all the time are those made by Boss. The Boss pedals just don't stop working - the switches go, but that is such an easily diagnosed and fixed problem. They don't have the best sounds, but from a price and build quality perspective they're hard to go past.

What's not to love about G&Ls - the build and finish quality are superb and the pickups are great. Throw in the lovely neck profiles and the fact that you can have one built to your spec for no surcharge and you have a fine, old fashioned company. Yesterday I spent about an hour going from one guitar to the other comparing the bridge pickup sounds. I've bought a couple of pickups to install in my ASAT Classics, ones which have so much hype around them that you need to wait at least two months to get them and the standard ASAT pickups are equally as good as the others. It has everything that they both do with a little more volume and high end - the others are top notch vintage tele type pickups, constructed with different materials. You see so much talk on other forums that the G&Ls don't sound like teles. What a bunch of lies! They sound like GOOD teles! And as Standards Guy has pointed out, they have a great sound for jazz - brilliant, clear, and well defined, even with the tone rolled back.

Relative to G&L, what keeps you coming back? Innovative products? Consistent quality? The company story? Something I don't know about? What makes you an enthusiast? For me it's the consistent quality, and I like having a different headstock than the majority of folks.

For me, it's the way they feel in your hand. The tight neck pockets, perfect frets and finishes. The sustain and attack; the warmth and chime. Best damn guitar for the money, hands down.

By the way, I did notice there are a lot of computer/systems/programmer types around here. Same on the PRS board I occasionally habitate. Is it the forum (i.e., internet) that attracts more of your kind? Although I consider myself a well-rounded individual, I don't exactly have a scientific mind. I'm a lawyer [jokes ensue], with dreams of being a rock star [who doesn't].

What keeps me coming back are the pickups. Nothing sounds like a bass MFD.
Great feeling necks and fantastic finishes help close the deal but the pickups are what get me everytime.