Lunch Report: 2012-08-16

Lunch:
Roast beef sandwich wth Brooke Bond tea.

G&L:
Yesterday I went with mahogany. Today, who has an all maple G&L. I have one, it's this very 1984 first-style SB-2. My first G&L and still my favorite of the three.

http://www.ggjaguar.com/sb-2-84.htm

Question: What do you have in all maple G&L? I just have this one.

Bicycles:
I shot an episode of TV Cycle last night that's about half an hour long, or double the normal. All the cameras stayed on. My favorite episode to date actually had the red (under seat) camera turn off, but it did so right at the end of the ride so no big deal.
[youtube]7MmTv46xH70[/youtube]

...more tomorrow.

Question: What do you have in all maple G&L? I just have this one.

Eleven, maybe twelve...

Maple guitars: ASATs (x3), Nighthawk, SC-1, SC-2 and Superhawk.

Maple basses: Interceptor, Lynx, SB-1 and SB-2.

Maybe: Skyhawk. It sounds and feels like maple, but the setup is so perfect that I've never taken the neck off to check. A couple of small dings through the finish look more like maple than ash.

As you can guess, maple is my absolute favorite body wood (well, except for a 'hog body L1K or L2K). Luckily for me, it was very common during the early-to-mid 80s. I knew the SCs and SBs would have maple bodies, but the others were surprises when I checked the neck pockets. All of mine except for the SB-1 and SB-2 have solid finishes, so there is probably a lot of nice flame ion there that I can't see.

Ken

Howdy Brock,

Maple, you ask? Ah, another fine body material. As you might have noticed, this brings the Leo-era folks out of the woods. All one of them! That is, the one that I know too, Mr KenC

C'mon people there must be more of the old timers lurking around ....

Well, I have a couple of maples too and those are without exception some of the finest sounding guitars in the collection. First off, there is the SC-1 and SC-2 which I firmly believe are maple in my case. However, I would like to point out one of the errata Paul Bechtoldt published on the old GbL site for his little treatise "G&L: Leo's Legacy" claiming that as far as the SC (and HG) series are concerned, they have "... spec sheets stating body construction of maple, most are yellow poplar or basswood." So now you know! Of course there are my two trusty Broadcasters, one with a maple board and one with an ebony board. And then one of my absolute faves, the Leo-era Cherryburst ASAT III previously owned by Tom Giberson. A maple body with ('90-'91 era) S-500 pups. Finally, to top it off, I have Bob Page's Clear red Trinity in the collection.

Again, love your vids Brock. Today's in some way reminds me so much of taking the Burke Gilman Trail here in Seattle starting at N 125th St, transitioning into the Sammamish River trail, ending in Redmond at Marymoor Park. No golf carts though. But still, fantastic!! Keep them coming!

- Jos

C'mon people there must be more of the old timers lurking around ....

Yep, one more!

No all-maple or all-mahogany G&Ls, but I do have my maple/mahogany ASAT Deluxe. What can you say about this type of construction that hasn't been written before. Only thing is, this guitar is heavier than any of my Les Pauls, even with all the routes for the DF Vibrato.

BTW, I like the DFV better than any vibrato out there. I've owned the vintage Fender and the Bigsby. I've played with other players that used Kahlers and Floyds, and had better tuning stability with the DFV.

Bill

Did I hear Old Timer?
I have two all Maple G&L's. Both are protos, the first was one of the two original El Toros and the other was one of the first SC/HG series. Both are in the Gallery. I also saw the comment about the Poplar and Basswood bodies. Although it is possible that there were some Poplar bodies made ( unlikely ) for the SC series, there were no Basswood bodies. The only time I remember us making bodies out of Basswood were when we made a couple of guitars for Allan Holdsworth and possibly for Mark Saint John. The SC guitars were Maple and all of the original models were paint grade. After December of '85 they might have done something different but before that time there were no production Basswood SC's.
Fred

Did I hear Old Timer?
I have two all Maple G&L's. Both are protos, the first was one of the two original El Toros and the other was one of the first SC/HG series. Both are in the Gallery. I also saw the comment about the Poplar and Basswood bodies. Although it is possible that there were some Poplar bodies made ( unlikely ) for the SC series, there were no Basswood bodies. The only time I remember us making bodies out of Basswood were when we made a couple of guitars for Allan Holdsworth and possibly for Mark Saint John. The SC guitars were Maple and all of the original models were paint grade. After December of '85 they might have done something different but before that time there were no production Basswood SC's.
Fred

Thanks for the clarification Fred. Greg Gagliano also lists maple as the body wood for every SC/HG listed on his site, and looking in the pockets of mine there is little doubt that it is maple. But for historical reference, I just wanted to include the erratum.

- Jos

I'd guess that my '87 Skyhawk is also maple bodied...

The Paul Bechtoldt book has an obscene amount of errors in it. The errata needs errata! The whole SB/SC body wood error gets to me. I read it, and I'm thinking "but mine sure sounds maple" and since I bought it from Greg, he'd taken it apart (notes here: http://www.ggjaguar.com/sb-2-84.htm ).

Of course, then you get notes from people and they're "mine's maple", "mine too" and it becomes pretty clear that there's misinformation in the book. Had it been limited to just this one issue, that would just be annoying but that book is swimming in error. If you run across a copy, feel free to look at the pictures but don't take the words seriously.

Here is my Lynx bass, bad picture from the seller:


I think its maple but I don't know.

Here is my '84 SB-2 which I know is all maple:


I love the sound of maple bodies and I look for them in other instruments

Here is my Lynx bass, bad picture from the seller:

Looks just like my SB-2 other than the body contour (and the headstock is probably different).

Brock,
Have you seen this guys vid?
...excellent sound too on this one, I think a soundboard bootleg.

anyhoo, here 'tis :

. .. . .. .. . . ... ... . . ... .. .. . . .

[youtube]jvRu2a-7zjU[/youtube]


...and PT.2 .
. .. . .. .. . . ... ... . . ... .. .. . . .
. .. . .. .. . . ... ... . . ... .. .. . . .
[youtube]mZDaWgj7RGg[/youtube]
. .. . .. .. . . ... ... . . ... .. .. . . .

C'mon Jos, there are at least 2 pre BBL people around here. I have a plan that I can't reveal but It does involve Mahogany and Maple guitars.
Cheers
Anthony

I'm liking the music more than the video, partularily on the helmet cam one at top. The looking to the side helmet cam bike shot makes my stomach feel weak! If I ever add a helmet cam to my show on a regular basis it'll be a accessory cam and not the main forward view.

Hey Brock. I've been out of town and had wanted to respond to your LR but had not had time until now.

Maple and MFDs, I assume you know, are a marriage made in heaven.

These are maple/maple:

http://s87.photobucket.com/albums/k156/edandiz/SCs/?action=view&current=IMGP4422.jpg

I well believe this is maple, though I haven't verified it. Sounds maple. Yum! :

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k156/edandiz/1986%20ASAT/asat1.jpg?t=1312850952

http://s87.photobucket.com/albums/k156/ ... =asat2.jpg

Oh, and this one too. These pickups with the maple/maple are really something special. In the right hands, this thing thumps and sings in a way that highlights all the woody goodness.



I'm beat and will check out TV Cycle a bit later. I've really enjoyed the ones I've seen, though. - ed

All maple compared to others on a scale. That is what I want to see. I have heard and need verification. It may be the best tone, but as Milton Friedman would say, "At what cost?".