Monday 7th January 2013 – Lunch Report - Under the Radar.

Well here I am sat at the computer, with a box behind me. A box containing my first G&L guitar!
I’m having to contain my excitement because I know she has sat in a cold Fedex warehouse for 2 days over the weekend. I’m leaving her a few hours to reach room temperature before ‘unboxing’. Sometimes I’m glad of the patience and discipline I got from all those years of martial arts training!

Lunch: Not much time for lunch today, so it came out of a tin! That’s not as bad as it sounds. It was a tin of Sainsbury’s Thai Green Curry – if you don’t have Sainsbury’s in the USA, it’s a major supermarket chain here. Their Thai Green Curry is actually made in Thailand and is very authentic, and very tasty. It’s supposed to be served with rice as a main meal, but I eat it as a thick soup. That’s my tip of the day; instead of buying tinned soup, which is often insubstantial, buy tinned curry. It’s a similar price but you get much more for your money! Yeah… I’m a true Yorkshireman!

G&L Topic of the Day: Under the radar…
I’ve been aware of G&L’s products for a long time. I first came across them by reading a review in a guitar magazine. It was a great review! I had just bought another Fender Strat at the time and wondered if I should have gone for a G&L. (Luckily that Strat is one of the best and I still have it.)
I’ve asked a few musician friends what they think of G&L. Oddly more bassists seem to know about them than guitarists.
How can a guitar make that gets great reviews all over the place, especially one with Leo Fender’s name associated with it, be so ‘under the radar’? I like things that are less common, so G&L’s relative rarity in the UK appeals to me.

Question: Would you want G&L to be further above the radar or do you like the fact they are not so well known?

Non-G&L Topic of the day: Not straying too far from guitars, or one of our favourite subjects… bridges! Before buying this G&L, I nearly bought this one-off custom creation with a very unique bridge.
Considering the innovations Leo made in bridge design, I’d like your opinions on this idea! The video starts with demos of the tones, but the luthier talking about the construction and that whacky bridge starts at 7:20.
[youtube]hJzb92Gka-w[/youtube]


Right; I’m off to open the box!

Hey Goat, good start, I'm not sure I could wait to open that box as you have, luckily stuff usually arrives while I'm at work so I'm forced to

It's been slow at work so I stopped home for lunch today. Made a "quick" stir-fry like dish. Chopped up a chicken breast and threw it in the pan with some fresh mushrooms, a bit of onion, some carrot and a healthy dose of spinach. Added some garlic, ginger, soy sauce (low sodium) and some cayenne pepper to spice it up. You now see why quick was in quotations, it took me a bit longer to make than anticipated, and sadly tasted a bit too salty when I was done, got to watch out when that soy sauce cooks down. I'll have to look for canned curry, never tried it, I'm sure it would be a lot faster than today's lunch.

I like that G&L is under the radar because, I too, like things that are less common. They also are one of, if not the, best deals on the used guitar market. I would not like to see them further under though, that might be bad for the company and those of us who've taken to collecting, I'm happy where they sit right now

Still at work, so not able to watch the video at the moment, I'll check it out later

I'll be looking forward to pics of your new G&L too!


Have a good one!

-Dave

Firstly goat you look good in yellow squire secondly congrats on the new dame!!!! Pics please
oh & not bad ole son ,hoping my first lunch effort is in the ball park!
I lived in blighty a year mate,as an Australian round them parts circa 2003-2004 when you lads won the World Cup it weren't much fun,but was lucky enough to seek refuge in one of the local walkabouts so very familiar with sainsburys.not so curry,though the odd one occasionally ain't too shabby.
Regarding the under the radar duality of G & L.im one part thrilled cause it feels in some bizarre way I'm a bit more hip than you're average bear,conversely though the stuffing about to get one bereft of stumbling into a gold mine don't do much for me.one can only imagine what the headache for parts might be like without a direct conduit into some of the boys here.
Bandwidth on base is the pits by & large sorry goat & can only occasionally get a video to stream where its watchable ,but will scope the bridge etc once it frees up a bit.
nice read goat,thanks for sharing mate

Lunch: Beer and Salami and left over spinach

G&L: I like their overall visibility, I think the dealer network and some of the sales/configuration tools, both on their website and what they furnish to the dealer body can improve. Dealer education and sales tools will raise the buying experience as well as sales volume without overexposing it as a volume brand. My $0.02

Non-G&L: Interesting ideas pulled from various other brands. I also wonder how well that tension bridge can stand up to aggressive Rock n Roll playing. The wood choices are really rare. I wonder how much volume Crimson can do and stick to those woods. What is the price point?

Nice opening LR Goat!

Dave - there are some pics in the introduction forum under "Hello from Yorkshire".
I'd try adding the soy at the end!

TBP - low bandwidth sucks!

Jag - Well worth checking out Crimson guitars page on Youtube; he does some awesome educational vids on everything from potting pickups to hand shooting your own compound radius fretboard. His website's worth a look too - he only builds one guitar a month and his next slot is Aug 2014 for a custom build. He makes Robert Fripp's guitars for him, and is well respected. Prices for his 2 current stock guitars on on his site: http://crimsonguitars.com/

Thanks guys for the compliments on the first attempt at a LR! No idea what G&L topic I'll come up with tomorrow, not being over-familiar with them. Guess I'll keep taking a 'wood for the trees' outsiders view of the brand.

Dave - there are some pics in the introduction forum under "Hello from Yorkshire".

TBP - low bandwidth sucks!

I know mate

Regarding your plank goat weren't we only going off one pic from the source & some examples you ripped elsewhere? or are all the pics of the beast itself?
There was some conjecture regarding the colour from memory

That luthier - tattooed head, goatee - could be Bam Bam Bigelows child!

Regarding your plank goat weren't we only going off one pic from the source & some examples you ripped elsewhere? or are all the pics of the beast itself?
There was some conjecture regarding the colour from memory

All the beastie itself! Deffo clear orange.

That luthier - tattooed head, goatee - could be Bam Bam Bigelows child!

Guessing he's a wrestler by my amazing powers of deduction!
On Ben's earlier vids he usually wore a tweed cap and waistcoat, which suit his well-spoken quiet character. First time I saw the tats I almost pissed myself laughing!

Not baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad!

Look forward to seeing your new G&L and hearing what you think. Welcome! -ed

goat, you're gonna have to beat this goatee to earn the name

post again with a G&L in your hands, lol

post again with a G&L in your hands, lol

Exactly. That headstock the dude is wielding sure looks strange from here, lol! -ed

goat, you're gonna have to beat this goatee to earn the name

I love the lefty trem on the Strat, Louis. One of he reasons I like my Skyhawk so much...

post again with a G&L in your hands, lol

Exactly. That headstock the dude is wielding sure looks strange from here, lol! -ed

i don't think it looked strange to leo at one time

goat, you're gonna have to beat this goatee to earn the name

I love the lefty trem on the Strat, Louis. One of he reasons I like my Skyhawk so much...

i like it for how it works when using the trem, fits in the hand perfect, took a little while to get used to muting with it. it's an srv signature strat i bought with original case, all case candy, excellent condition for 400 bucks. a deal i could not say no to. (i changed the pickguard so it's not so obvious and has fralin pups in it now, came with a set of fender custom shop '54 pups instead of the texas specials.

I love the lefty trem on the Strat, Louis. One of he reasons I like my Skyhawk so much...

i like it for how it works when using the trem, fits in the hand perfect, took a little while to get used to muting with it. it's an srv signature strat i bought with original case, all case candy, excellent condition for 400 bucks. a deal i could not say no to. (i changed the pickguard so it's not so obvious and has fralin pups in it now, came with a set of fender custom shop '54 pups instead of the texas specials.

I thought it was an SRV. I agree, the trem does feel more natural and more versatile in reverse position, the muting is a minor learning curve. Love to hear a tone report with the mods you have Louis.

~JagInTheBag

I love the lefty trem on the Strat, Louis. One of he reasons I like my Skyhawk so much...

i like it for how it works when using the trem, fits in the hand perfect, took a little while to get used to muting with it. it's an srv signature strat i bought with original case, all case candy, excellent condition for 400 bucks. a deal i could not say no to. (i changed the pickguard so it's not so obvious and has fralin pups in it now, came with a set of fender custom shop '54 pups instead of the texas specials.

I thought it was an SRV. I agree, the trem does feel more natural and more versatile in reverse position, the muting is a minor learning curve. Love to hear a tone report with the mods you have Louis.

~JagInTheBag

here is a gig i did a few months ago with it. good band too, there some decent example around 18:00
[youtube]zQFN46xK4xA[/youtube]

goat, you're gonna have to beat this goatee to earn the name

That's a mighty goatee indeed louis! My 'goat' comes from the fact I'll eat anything, especially if I get to eat it while frolicking in wide open spaces, preferably up a mountain! SRV and your playing sounds good!

I reckon you've earned It Goat
regards
Anthony