Lunch Report 2-9-11

Hello everyone!

I hope everyone's day is going good.

Chilli today. Wife is considering making up Tacos too... Texas Style.
Dallas has about a inch of ice and snow at 18 degrees.The weather forecast has the temps in the upper 60s by Sunday.

My G&L question of the day may be a old one. But I am the new guy so excuse me on that.(But I have been reading the forum for years).
My G&L's are 3 bolt necks. I am strange about guitars to I never buy new.(Or I never have).So the first thing I look at when I see at at music store if it is a G&L is a 3 or 4 bolt neck.

#1 So do you want to see G&L come back with a 3 Bolt neck? Even as a option.

I am carrying over a question from yesterday
With vintage and older guitars become more expensive. (I won't say more valuable) And knowing the quality of some of the high dollar older guitars today.(late 70's Fenders. Darwin I have a Fender story).

#2 Do you feel the reissues are built better than the originals?

#3 Are we tired of winter yet? Down under are we fed up with summer?


Chet

Chet, just had some left over lasagna and it was some of Ginnys best!

I would like to see the 4 bolt neck with the adjustment screw that Fender refers to as the Mico Tilt. It is not used much but sure beats removing the neck to add a shim when needed. I had to add a .025 shim to get the optimal setting for the bridge and it took several attempts to get it right. The Micro Tilt would have made it a 2 to 3 minute job.

I would love to have originals but I think that the reissues have an advantage in build specs and electronics. I currently own the following Fender reissues.
Two 57 Strats, one Mary Kay and one Surf Green, a 52 Tele, a 52 Custom Shop Clapton which is really a vintage reissue and have owned others. I have two Gretsch reissues, one a 58 Country Gentleman and a 59 6122 Chet Nashville model. These are all superb guitars. I could not afford to have originals of these guitars.

I am ready for spring. We are getting a big warmup by the weekend and I can hardly wait. Although the last few days have been sunny, it is very cold here in Minnesota Darwin.

Company provided sandwiches and tomato soup today in class. It makes sure I won;t expire, but that's about it ...

So do you want to see G&L come back with a 3 Bolt neck?

The move to a 4-bolt neck was not made for a technical reason but rather to an ever persisting distrust for the 3-bolt attachment in the marketplace. Apparently, too many sales people had to explain themselves too many times when somebody would tell them a 3-point attachment cannot be solid. Notwithstanding George's perfect design of course. I love the 3-bolt attachment as much as Bi-Cut necks. Still think they are superior in flexibility without sacrificing solidness and strength. Bring them back!!

Do you feel the reissues are built better than the originals?

Decidedly NO. It would be true for a Custom Shop reissue either from Fender and/or Gibson, with associated but still inflated price tag. These instrument at least get some TLC and personal attention. But the 'construction' line reissues (or relics) will have the same issues as 'new' models.

Are we tired of winter yet?

What winter? Don't people know that here in the Pacific Northwest we have a long spring moving straight into autumn?

- Jos

3-Bolt Neck - It's pretty neat, the micro tilt thing. I haven't had to use it, but it's nice to have it if I do need it. I'd like to see a metal string ferrule block more than the 3-bolt neck though.


Reissue VS. Original - I've owned one reissue model, a US Fender '57 strat. It was a very nice guitar. I don't imagine it was any worse than an original when it first left the factory. I've played a few reissue tele's and they've been very nice guitars. I had my hands on a '59 Esquire a few months back and although it was nice, I certainly couldn't have justified the $50,000+ difference in price between a reissue and an original. Same with '59 Les Paul I had a go on - I'd prefer to have a house, a nice car and a Heritage H150 than an original LP....


Summer - It's been an exceptionally mild summer here in Melbourne. Last week we had temperatures aproaching 40#C, this week we're in the mid 20s and it even starting to get cold at night. I'd like to see more summer because although our winters are not as bitterly cold as the blizzard belt in the states, they do seem to drag on FOREVER.

Having a lovely winter here in MT. So not yet too tired of winter.

I don't know if I have a real strong preference about the bolt pattern approach. For me personally, i LOVE my 3 bolt G&L guitars--so i say go back to it, it has worked for me beautifully and strikes me as an elegant design. But if it makes it even remotely harder for sales people to pitch, stick with four. My only current 4 bolt G&L is an ASAT Deluxe, and it is perfect in every way.

I know nothing about reissues; very little about the issues, in fact.

1 So do you want to see G&L come back with a 3 Bolt neck? Even as a option.

Absolutely. It makes for a lot easier set-up, and I certainly cannot hear a difference between the 3-bolt and 4-bolt necks.

#2 Do you feel the reissues are built better than the originals?

In most cases I would say yes. I would say that the Custom Shop Fenders are at least as good if not better. I had a 1960 vintage Strat, and the 1960 Strat relics feel pretty much dead on to me. Ditto for the Historic Les Pauls from Gibson. They seem to be very consistent, and I'm certainly happy with mine. Gretsch is a no brainer--some of the older Gretsches are real dogs--just kind of slapped together. They weren't very consistent with parts and specs, either. I think Martin is building some great guitars.

I think the big differences come down to wood and finishes. Obviously, a 2011 Martin D-28 with East Indian Rosewood and a Sitka top is not going to sound the same going out the factory door as a '50s Brazilian RW model with an Adirondack top. The ebony on the older guitar is going to be of better quality. Plus, the vintage guitar is going to be constructed with hide glue, not the modern adhesive. I think those are big differences. I think the quality of wood used back in the making of the older guitars was better. And it was certainly less expensive and more readily available.

The big guitar boom didn't really start until the late '50s. As production rose in the mid-'60s, quality went down. Fender, Gibson, Gretsch were all sold off to big companies looking make a profit from this exploding market. Even Martin nearly went under, but they hung on. Fender employees bought the company back and turned it around. Then you start seeing all the new builders: PRS, Larivee, Taylor, et. al. and the demand for tonewoods is at an all time high. And it is a limited resource.

Finishes have changed too. I think a lot of it is production costs, and warranty issues. It's cheaper and faster to apply a UV-cured poly finish than 18 thin coats of hand buffed NCL. The poly is pretty much impervious to anything you can throw at it, keeping the guitar newer looking longer. Same with the glue issue--a lot of folks think the hide-glued guitar is going to sound better, but it most certainly will need warranty work over a lifetime.

I think it is a tough job for manufacturers to improve their instrument, without losing the tone and feel of their vintage instruments. Of course they want to make more profit, and build things cheaper and faster. But this seems to be one business where, "New And Improved!!!" just doesn't cut it.

#3 Are we tired of winter yet? Down under are we fed up with summer?

Yeah, but it is a really beautiful day here in Portland, Oregon. Clear, sunny and 47F. Oregon and Washington are known as the "Two-Season States".

Warm rain = summer. Cold rain = winter.

So true.

Bill

I LOVE the 3 bolts!
I would totally welcome the return of the 3 bolt necks. They are so much easier to dial in. You can adjust the angle without having to use a shim.
I love the way they look as well!

Vintage Vs. Reissues....

I've played some killer reissues. In some cases (like the Gretsches), I feel hey are better built than the originals.
I have yet to play one of the G&L's that have been reissued. I'd love to compare a new F-100 with my original....and hopefully someday I will get to play a G-200 reissue (hint...hint)

Winter...

Well, here in Baton Rouge, we've been getting nasty rain and temps in the 20's. Nothing like what most of the country is experiencing.
I like winter, but I'm about over the rain!