Lunch Report - Wednesday March 2nd

As a followup to my questions about doing a lot of guitar stuff myself and leaving the tough stuff to the experts, I decided, last week, to order a bunch of stuff from Warmoth and try to rebuild a guitar.

I have a tele style guitar (non-G&L) and I like some bits (the neck, the pups) and hate other bits (the body, overall tone, etc), so for fun I thought, new body, new bridge, new tuners, etc and this is my partscaster project to learn how to put together a guitar from scratch (after dismantling it first). At least a tele style anyway.

I know there are lots of places to go for guitar parts, but I have heard that Warmoth, while pricey, has great quality and service. I also found their website to be extremely powerful and useful.

The parts all arrived this morning. All parts were instock, including a lefty tele body, gloss black. All the hardware I ordered, pickguard, etc is also all black. I am excited to get going on this.

LUNCH

I have also started a part time hobby business, providing Photo Voltic Solar roof systems for residential and low end commercial buildings. My partner and I did 2 such systems last summer. Fun, I have learned alot about solar, DC and AC power, etc. Its a huge push in Ontario, Canada to augment the grid with solar.

I only mention this because my partner and I had a long breakfast meeting today. I had a breakfast club sandwich, tomato slices on the side. Lots of coffee.

So, lunch today will just be a nibble, probably some cold cuts, cheese, pickles, etc. Plowman's lunch, lol.

G&L QUESTION

When I ordered my Bluesboy, I really didn't know very much about guitars but decided I wanted a G&L. I thought, ha ha, that I would just get 1 good guitar and that would be it....so, in looking at the G&L website and talking to people, I decided on the bluesboy since it seemed to be a very versatile guitar. I did my research on the site and got very confused about options, etc and could not decide on colour, etc....

Being a lefty, I had no place to go to be able to try them either.

I wound up with a great guitar, but I now know that I would have ordered it differently had I understood the options better. That's why I am so excited about my ASAT Special Deluxe on order, I customized it better for me.

When I ordered the parts from Warmoth, their website is not confusing and seems simple compared to the G&L site.

Being a techie at heart, I like the G&L website, but think they could go much further in the presentation and usefulness of the information. I know the dealers are supposed to do most of the design work when ordering a guitar, but in this internet world, I personally like to do the research myself.

SO, a suggestion I would have is a guitar builder app. For example, a newbie like me, could go in, pick an ASAT CLASSIC Bluesboy (USA), then the system could walk me thru all the various options one at a time. Orientation, colour, neck, neck colour, fretboard, , pickguard, etc etc and in the end, display what the finished guitar would look like, maybe even with the US list price of the guitar and all the options? I think this would have really helped me and others to decide on what to order.

A second suggestion (just a personal pet peeve of mine), is that I would like to see the current 3-5 year strategy of the company on the website. What are it's mission, vision and values. How do these translate into objectives and goals of the company going forward. This would give me an overall view of where the company is at and where they are headed and how.

I applaud the work they are doing and also their reach out on forums like this and on social media, facebook etc. Great job.

What other suggestions would you have for the company, to improve the overall user's experience of the G&L website or its social media push?

NON G&L QUESTION

Are you guys as mod crazy as I am? Soon as I get a guitar, I want to change the pickguard, put graphite string trees on, strap locks, change the knobs, etc. Seems I'm never happy with the way it looks.

Even on my legacy which I just got, I changed the knobs, string tree, strap locks and knob on the pickup selector. Its vintage white with white pickguard and pickup covers. Looking at it, I think, it would look cool with either a cream pickguard and pup covers, or something radically opposed, like tortoise shell.

How do I stop this obsession, lol?

If I spent as much time practicing as I do, researching, mod'ing, etc, I might be half decent by now, ha.

This is fun, but do I have any volunteers out there to be Lunch Reporter next week? Pls PM me if you are interested.

Thx,

Alf

Alf, The partscaster is a fun way to go especially if you use quality parts. I have heard good things about Warmoth necks. If I were looking for a replacement, that is where I would start. I bought a Fender American Deluxe Strat neck a couple of years ago on e-bay and it was just over $400 in like new condition. It turned out to be a very good neck that I used on my parts Strat. My parts Strat will not leave here in my lifetime.

I have never ordered a guitar but the on line guitar builder would be a plus. There is a company in Japan that does this and it gives you the chance to look at everything before ordering.

I am not into modding as such, but there are changes that I will make. I always add straplocks. I have a Fender Deluxe leather strap in almost all of the cases. I have a couple of Levys. I have replaced pickguards to something I like better. I normally do not change pickups. I played the American Tele this morning that I put the new bridge on yesterday. It is much more enjoyable to play. I am not a vintage bridge fan. I will say that the G&L vintage bridge is stamped from a heavier steel and has a quality chrome plating on it. My spare G&L bridge almost ended up on the Fender. The Fender vintage bridge is stamped from metal not much heavier than beer caps. It is fun to customize the guitars the way we like to. I like the changes that are reversible to original if ever desired. Ed made a comment yesterday about putting a Saddle Lock on a Tele. I have thought about it and other than routing the groove it sounds like a fine idea to me. -- Darwin

SO, a suggestion I would have is a guitar builder app. For example, a newbie like me, could go in, pick an ASAT CLASSIC Bluesboy (USA), then the system could walk me thru all the various options one at a time. Orientation, colour, neck, neck colour, fretboard, , pickguard, etc etc and in the end, display what the finished guitar would look like, maybe even with the US list price of the guitar and all the options? I think this would have really helped me and others to decide on what to order.

What a fantastic idea! I wish I could program. I'd do it for free. I also wish G&L would update the online shop so us overseas customers could use it. The postage estimates are plainly wrong. $80 postage for 1 pickup. I don't think so!

Re. customization, I like to change pickguards and knobs to make my instruments feel like my own. Aged white or mint green looks so much nicer than the stark white trim on most new guitars. I'm also starting to appreciate tort guards on plain colours like black and vintage white. I do wish it was easier to get hold of G&L guards and pickup covers here in Aus. I'll usually change pickups on guitars that need it. G&L's aren't in that category. I like the MFD's on all my G&L's enough to leave them alone. In fact the pickups are one of the major selling points IMHO.

You're on the home stretch now Alf. Keep up the good work

G&L Question -
I have never ordered a new guitar, but I have been day dreaming about getting a bluesboy for quite a while. There are a ton of options...lacking your app, i will have to find a solid dealer.


Non G&L Question -
Mods? Not for me. I just don't do much. It sure is cool that guys do make their instruments unique, but I don't really go in for it. Except for stickers. The only mod I can think of is putting stickers on a beautiful wood guitar makes me crazy. It seems like I was seeing that quite a bit a few years ago. I get it, you like your band. Put a sticker on your drummers forehead or whatever, but on your guitar? I saw a guy in Olympia WA once that had a fender sticker on a fender guitar--what an artistic statement that was. Never would have guessed he liked fenders. We are at the show, we know who you are. Ok. enough on that.

I have an eye like a dead horse, so making cosmetic changes is unlikely to improve the look of the instrument. As far as sound goes, I am just over whelmed by pickup and electronics choices. So generally if I am not making friends with an instrument I just give someone else a shot at it, and try again on something else.

Edit: I actually had to continue my sticker rant, which probably isn't even an issue anymore...

Last edited by sickbutnottired on Wed Mar 02, 2011 4:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.

SO, a suggestion I would have is a guitar builder app.

You mean like this one? You're welcome.

I completed my first parts-o-caster a month or so ago, and I love it. I did the finishing myself, with Darwins expert instruction I've posted this before, but here she is again




I bought parts from different places. Warmoth I found much too expensive. I ended up getting the neck from Musikraft, and it's fantastic. I got to choose pretty much everything about it without incurring any upcharges. The equivalent neck from Warmoth or USACG would have cost $50 -$200 more!

Keep us up to date with your build, Alf!



G&L Options: Funny this should come up. I was in a shop yesterday getting a price on a custom order ASAT and was shocked by something - to have a cream coloured pick guard would incur a significant upcharge (can't say the actual value because of site rules, but as an 8-bit binary number its 01011010). Overall he was very helpful and I was surprised to learn that I could get a brand new one from an Australian dealer for about the same as one in the US (+shipping and taxes)!



Modding: I'm a modder. Today I'm finally going to put the stock MFD back in my Bluesboy. They're such great pickups. I have bought several different pickups from very well respected makers and end up with the stock ones every time. I'm slowly learning that 'if it ain't brike, don't fix it'.

I totally agree with sickbutnottired - stickers on a guitar should not be allowed!

That's a beauty, congrats on it!

Yeah Blarg. Very nice instrument you built there! - ed

Thanks gents, I'm very proud of it. It sounds great too - the Bill Lawrence (Wilde) pickups are the only brand I'd consider buying again.

Pinkie is crying out for a customised 'Blargbuilt' or 'Blargcaster' decal on the headstock. Get to it Jamie

Pinkie is crying out for a customised 'Blargbuilt' or 'Blargcaster' decal on the headstock. Get to it Jamie

You mean something like this??????