Hello from (almost) Philadelphia

Hi Everyone-
I have been playing just for fun about 50 years now and keep a bunch of guitars and guitar "projects" in the basement along with a few keybaords and a '51 hammond M3 organ. About fifteen years ago I left a black (modified with a "S-tastic" second 5 way switch) " Made in Japan" Fender Stratocaster with my brother on the West coast with the understanding that It should come back to me if he ever got tired of playing it. Turns out his son (my nephew) learned how to play guitar and started writing and performing music. When he left home for the great Northwest to pursue his dream the black Stratocaster went with him. Totally Awesome that the Strat is being well used and well loved.

But... it started me thinking that the only way I'll ever see that Strat again is when I go to see him play.
That started a longing for a Strat style guitar to round out my herd. I started looking at fenders and the many alternatives including the G&L Legacy- American made with a "pre-CBS" pedigree from Leo Fender himself.
That led me to check out the whole G&L line-up and it didn't take me long to come across the S 500 with it's MFD single coil pickups and additional pickup selector options that included the best combinations from the modifications I made to that black Stratocaster. When I started looking at the S-500 options for wood and finishes I found i could order a Swamp Ash body[ with Maple neck. That is a combination that I have on two 8M serial1978 Peavey T-60 guitars and a T-40 bass ( I love everything about the old Peaveys (except the weight ! )

So the search was on for an S-500 maple neck and swamp ash body. I was surprised to see how these guitars held their value- it seems as though the used USA G&L guitars were only a few hundred bucks less than a new guitar.
There are no G&L Authorized Dealers in my neighborhood so I went looking online and found a new Maple neck/Swamp Ash body S-500 DeLuxe that appeared to have an incredibly tight grain match so I jumped on it before it could get away.
Having never picked up much less played a G&L anything before, I was MORE than pleased that the guitar was not anywhere near as heavy as Peavey T-60... it felt just right.
and the grain match? it seems that the the body is 2 peice instead of 3 and the joint is on the lower bout that is mosty covered by the pick guard.
I plugged it in to play and I gotta tell you- this guitar is a totally pro quality work of art. I couldn't be more pleased

having trouble linking a photo...it's been a long time since I've been active on a forum.

Welcome to our site!

Looking forward to see your Fullerton Deluxe S-500. For posting photos see the link to our Tutorial on posting photos in this post: Welcome! Read This First.

Yes, G&L uses 2 piece body blanks for their Swamp Ash bodies and most other body woods, too,

anyone using Flikr with a Mac?
still trying to link to a photo

anyone using Flikr with a Mac?
still trying to link to a photo

From the Tutorial on posting photos:

For Flickr hosted photos, use these instructions to post inline photo:
View photo hosted from Flickr, select Share option and then select BBCode.
Select a size for photo, but no larger than "Large - 768 x 1024".
Copy the highlighted code and paste into the forum Post Editor.

Hope this helps.

IMG_1338 by chris bushnell, on Flickr
that worked!
thanks for the help... It's been a long time since I've posted a photo on a forum

[img][img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48433253961_a388a63144_z.jpg[/img]IMG_1338[/img]

Almost got it:

Here is code to use, just don't enclose it with the img BBcode pair:

Code:

[img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48433253961_a388a63144_z.jpg[/img]IMG_1338 by chris bushnell, on Flickr

Here is your photo:
IMG_1338 by chris bushnell, on Flickr

Hope this helps.

Very nice Honeyburst Fullerton Deluxe S-500.