LR for 10/31/12: And Back To Pop

Seems that things are settling down a bit from the storm, but the devastation is unreal. Nothing like a storm of this magnitude to make humans seem almost irrelevant, but nice to see that the storm also bought out some of the best in folks as well.

And Back To Pop

So what do you do if you hate disco, rock music has become played out, FM radio, which was once a wealth of new music to discover is now for the most part play listed like AM, and 50's and 60's Strats, Tele's, Pauls, etc. are cheap cause no one wants them. On the other hand keyboard and synth sales are taking off. Sure, we were still jamming and playing the old tunes but it was time to try something new, or rather, return to what I started with. Albeit updated and in turn eventually twisted into a new "aesthetic" during the 80's. Some of my pals said I was going soft when I tried to play them things like American Girl, Starry Eyes, A Million Miles Away, Pump It Up. Look Sharp, This Charming Man, Everybody's Happy Nowawdays, etc. But to my ears these were just guitar pop songs with some great hooks that had more to do with the 60's music I grew up with, despite the "New Wave" moniker. There were also the garage bands like the Fleshtones, who my friend played with for a while, and of course the Ramones, Dolls, Television and a number of others who played CBGB's, Max's Kansas City, etc., so it was a pretty good time in spite of the leisure suits. It also led me in a direction musically that still colors the music i do. Basically, 60's style pop and orchestrated pop songs with the guitars used for layering and simple riffs and hooks that build on each other. though every now and again i pull out the old les paul and tremolux and turn it up.

Q. do you tend to play in one or two styles or are you all over the place doing a bit of this and a bit of that? were there periods of time when for example you played only blues, and then expanded into something else? or are you playing what you've always played and that's what you love best?

A few picks for your listening pleasure:

Crawling From The Wreckage
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[youtube]lAH1ioLiaHw[/youtube]
[youtube]klX77CEzh1I[/youtube]
[youtube]7O4GagrfqO8[/youtube]
[youtube]hwE58OUShE8[/youtube]
[youtube]E_xbzVtZM9c[/youtube]
[youtube]4T9u8WgddAM[/youtube]
[youtube]U59z_KhAbnI[/youtube]

G&L - Shapes and Sounds Of Things

What makes a Strat sound like a Strat? Is it the traditional slug pup, or does the body design and layout also play into it? A Tele is basically a slab of wood with a cut out on the lower edge. If you put the same slug pups, rout for the trem and trem setup just like a Strat, would it basically sound like one? Is the shape of a guitar body for design reasons only, or easier access to higher frets, or is there something else to it? I've always liked how Strat's look but never took to them sound-wise, whereas Tele's speak to me shape-wise and playing-wise. I do however like the old G&L S-types with the slightly pinched midwaist and have two S-500's in my stash of keeper G&L's. It's the same basic design, layout and scale as a Strat, so is the only difference the MFD's as compared to the slug pups?

Fred bought up a good point the other day and with G&L putting AlNiCo pups on some of the new guitars, they are pretty much doing what's already been done in the marketplace. Albeit, pretty damn well none the less. We know that G&L sales and field reps back in Leo's day had pushed for making the guitars and basses more "Fender" looking, and later during the 90's to replace the 3-bolt MT with the 4-bolt neck. The majority of buyers are looking for traditional T and S types and it would probably be foolish for G&L to stray too far from this. But what could they possibly do? What would you like to see? I'd personally like to see the "pinched-waist" S500/Skyhawk/Cav body style revived but with rear loaded controls. This isn't a huge departure from a traditional S-type, but just enough to stand apart from every other one on the market. Then again, if the majority of buyers are looking for traditional types, does that put the kabosh on things right from the start?

The all-important copper spring



Can anyone spot the non-original part of this S-500?



One of the most beautiful mahogany guitars I've seen:



The best of both worlds?



A chuckle for the day:

I'm waiting to get a flight to NJ to help out my mother, but may drive to bring along a new water heater and/or furnace. Everyone out there with basement damage will need to replace these, few have flood insurance, and I'm expecting a quick sell-out of local supplies...

Pop and New Wave followed the Disco days. I've played Caribbean Pop, Neo Soul, Rock, Emo(I guess it's that), Fusion Jazz, Classical, and Country. Most guitars can cover all of this and it's more about the emphasis on the playing part.

I have a copper spring for my S-500, but don't use it; never have and it's still in the zip-lock bag in the case. I use 2 springs and NEVER need a third... Great guitars btw.


Cheers,

Will

Storm footage is always fascinating in a terrifying sort of way. I have lots of family and friends in the northeast. Many are dealing with the relatively minor inconvenience of power outages. One in NJ took quite a beating. Their boat is missing, 1 car trashed, flooding in the first floor of their house. T But at least everyone and the pets are safe and they are insured. Still in better shape than lots of their neighbors.
Good luck to you Will. Hope your Mom stays safe.

On to more light-hearted affairs...
I still love a lot of the punk/new-wave stuff from the 70's and 80's. Haven't heard Bram Tchaikovsky in ages! That was a welcome blast from the past. I recall a review of some Ramones record where they thought the Ramones should really be more popular since they were mostly just Beach Boys played faster and louder. Makes sense to me.

Pups? Since G&L is already making interchangeable pickups why not offer an option of either alnico or mfd pickups on special orders?

Jeff

Jonc,
Those are some nice guitars you have there. I believe you are referring to the pickguard in your question. I do believe there might be another misconception in your post. You say that the sales team and field reps were asking for more Fender looking instruments but I don't believe that was exactly how it went. I remember when Dale began working on Leo and George about the proprietary parts on the guitars not being modular enough for the market. The demographics of the day went something like this, 80% of the new guitars being purchased by the American market were sold to end users between the ages of 12 and 19 years old. 80% of those guitars were being modified within the first six months. This being the case, mom and dad were not about to buy Timmy a new G&L and then have to pay a tech hundreds of dollars to route it out and change the parts because there were no modular parts to fit the pickup pockets etc. The same holds true of the pro or average user that has to carve up his guitar just to see if he likes the way it sounds with a different pickup in it. That was the main reason Dale pushed so hard to have us make the Super Strats, the Rampage, Nighthawk and Invader with standard sized humbuckers as well as Schaller and Kahler tremolos. This allowed someone with a modicum of experience with a soldering iron experiment with different parts without making irreversible changes to their instruments. Once again Dale was the one who insisted that this was the direction we needed to go and even though it was kicking and screaming, Leo relented and these models were born. He was also instrumental ( pun intended ) in the making of the Intercepter X body. This was a far cry from anything else we were doing and it might have had a chance of survival had it not been for the new guitars coming out of Charvel / Jackson. Grover was making his guitars with far more sharpness in his designs. The hair bands of the day wanted flash and the Intercepter just wasn't as crisp in appearance in my opinion. The look being more Fender was not what people wanted in other words, it was the ability to interchange parts at will.
Fred

Can anyone spot the non-original part of this S-500?

Nighthawk/Skyhawk pick guard? Which if it's early enough could also make it a 'Hawk with an S-500 decal?

Having started playing in the early '80s, I gravitate to New Wave, post-punk and some hook-laden pop in my living room playing. Joe Jackson's "Is She Really Going Out With Him?" has been a fixture for the past six months or so. It's usually the first thing I play when a guitar comes out.

I remember laying in bed at night when I was 14, listening to "Girl of My Dreams" on the local AM Top Forty station and thinking about that summer's crush. I hunted the song down a couple of months ago, and was somewhat surprised/disappointed/disgusted when I finally figured out the lyrics. I still love the song, though.

Here is one I remember fondly from the early days of MTV:

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I just realized that Nick Lowe was playing an eight-string bass in the video. I had to pass on a fretless version of this bass due to lack of funds back in the '90s, but was so impressed that it's on my "buy on sight" short list now.

This is my all-time favorite for layered guitar parts, and I enjoy it as much now as I did back in the day:

[youtube]kUA76M67Gd8[/youtube]

We made it through the storm with no power loss and no damage, but part of our neighborhood is still without power and one of the roads out of the neighborhood is still underwater.

Ken

Thanks for the insight on that, Fred!

The demographics of the day went something like this, 80% of the new guitars being purchased by the American market were sold to end users between the ages of 12 and 19 years old. 80% of those guitars were being modified within the first six months.

It's a bit ironic that these same kids (myself included) who are now in our mid-40s to mid-50s seem to still be the target demographic, if you go by a lot of the box store/internet vendor marketing. A lot of us (myself not included) still seem bent on modding any instrument we get in our hands...

By your figures, roughly two out of three 80s-vintage guitars would have been modded right off the bat. I think it's a testimony to G&L's innovation and quality that the majority of Leo-era instruments that show up for sale are still in stock condition or close to it.

Ken

You're welcome Ken,
I don't know how accurate that demographic was but it worked to get these models produced. I think the fact that so many of the G&Ls were left stock says that a lot of the buyers were aware of what they were capable of doing right out of the box (case) without having to mess with them. I also think the majority of them were sold to end users outside of that younger demographic so they actually played their instruments instead of modding them. It's like golfers who keep buying clubs to play better instead of practicing to play better.
Fred

Fred: as always thanks for the insight. my remark about making the bodies more "fender" like for the later generations Skyhawk, etc. came out of conversations with Greg and some others on the old board. interesting to hear more from an insider on this.

Yes, it's a Skyhawk pickguard. And while it works, there's no longer the grounding that was part of the original circuit and the metal pickguard, which in turn makes the guitar sound different from an early S-500 with the metal pg.

Ken: thanks for the Church clip. Unguarded Moment is still my all-time favorite track they did. and spot on about the lyrics in the Bram song. still a great tune but...

Jon, I'm a day late.

I studied music in college and had exposure to all kinds. At night I would go back to the dorm and listen to the Kingston Trio on my roommates record player. It is difficult to change what we already like and new things may stick with us but it wasn't the 70's or 80's for me. I don't recognize any of the bands that you posted today. I am in a rut.

As for guitar shapes, I don't think it makes much difference. I was originally a Strat guy but have clearly switched in recent years. I like the belly cut on the T type for comfort and now days, the lighter weight the better. For some reason a 10 lb bass doesn't bother me but a heavy guitar makes my neck sore. There is a difference in the way they hang. The pickups and strings are probably responsible for most of the sound. I wonder how the old plexiglass guitars sounded. I've never heard one. Some of the steel body boutique sound great. The body woods give us the "look" that some of us drool over. I would like to see a composite electric that weighed 4 to 5 lbs. I am not a fan of black guitars but I really like the looks of some of the carbon fiber acoustics. How about it G&L?, a hollow body composite ASAT. I would buy it. it could have the carbon fiber look or some wild paint jobs like swirl. I'm getting way off the subject here. You have been posting some sweet pictures of your guitars Jon. Keep 'em coming! -- Darwin