SC-2 Love

[tomanche]

It's possible that the fingerboard wood has dried and shrunk from low humidity (especially during winter with the furnace on, and/or hanging on a wall), which then causes the fret ends to protrude. If the fingerboard is ebony or rosewood, apply lemon oil (e.g., Homer Formby's, at your hardware store). Four or five drops to the entire fretboard, spread them to all that wood with a shop towel, let soak in for 5 minutes, then wipe any excess.

The other thing to consider is putting a humidifier (e.g., Planet Waves) in the case.

[shaman]

I appreciate the suggestion. The frets are set properly and snugly into the fretboard, there are no variances in height or gaps under them.
The problem is, after looking at the frets under high magnification, there are rough edges at the bevel. These are parallel grooves in the metal on each fret where it is beveled. Like it should have been polished smooth, but isn't. It's like a series of horizontal lines, possibly due to the grit from the polishing file/tool? And where this bevel meets the edge of the fret, it is rough, albeit microscopically rough, but rough enough to catch skin occasionally during a slide up the high E string.

[Dave Zav]

FEELING the love right here!
My new (bought used) black reissue SC-2 (CLF59695) in a natural environment (played it thru a Marshall JCM 900 last night).

This guitar had not been played prior to me owning it, the finish was untouched and brand new.



I'm really amazed at the power of this guitar and the solid build and beauty of the workmanship.

[Submersible]

So I was poking around on the G&L website today (which is more baffling than ever) and it looks like the SC-2 reissue is no more. Bummer. I am sad it didn't last. Maybe they can reboot it under the CLF guitars where they would be allowed to preserve the funkiness that made the original so cool. Obviously there is a big demand for SC-2s, but I think they got it wrong when they tried to make an upscale student model guitar. It didn't need contours or to have the control panel removed in my opinion.

[Danley]

I hope this (and the F100 ) come back, but I think the purpose of the SC2 is superseded for the most part (minus the pickups) by the Fallout. If it comes back, plates would be nice.

I also dislike the new website - they replaced an appropriate density of information and organization, with a couple long, disorganized alphabetic lists and tons of ‘fashionable’ empty space. I can’t passionately complain about a company’s marketing strategy as long as the guitars remain good - but still annoying.

[WitSok]

Yeah, I'm hoping for CLF Research SC-2. I admit that I like the contours on the reissues, but the the control plat really completes the looks and I prefer the output jack out the front. The body shape of the SC-2 reissue/fallout is my favorite of the G&L offerings. If I had money to burn, I'd probably have CS version of all my G&L but on the SC body!

Cheers, Dan

[Craig]

I also dislike the new website - they replaced an appropriate density of information and organization, with a couple long, disorganized alphabetic lists and tons of ‘fashionable’ empty space. I can’t passionately complain about a company’s marketing strategy as long as the guitars remain good - but still annoying.

Check out the Specifications and Options Forum here, such as this post: Current G&L Specifications and Options,
because I have added notes and corrections which have yet to be done on the glguitars.com site.
I also include a lot more photos for the new models and most of the options and finishes.

Hope this helps.

[Craig]

FYI, six more SC-2's in Himalayan Blue finish are listed in the 11/22/2019 Factory Inventory list.

Hope this helps.

[Submersible]

I also dislike the new website - they replaced an appropriate density of information and organization, with a couple long, disorganized alphabetic lists and tons of ‘fashionable’ empty space. I can’t passionately complain about a company’s marketing strategy as long as the guitars remain good - but still annoying.

I possibly just no longer understand G&L's business model. If you hover your mouse over "Guitars" at the top of the home page, you can choose from "Custom Shop," "Tribute Series" and "Made in Fullerton." I exhaustively looked through all of them and found entire models of guitars missing, so I knew I was in the wrong place.

In order to find what I think of as the "normal" G&L guitars, you have to bypass all of the text on the home page, find "USA Guitars" in fine print in the footer, and then choose "View Option Order Models." And even then, I am not sure I found the right thing, because if you look at the specs, they no longer say you have a choice of neck profile like they used to. They list a specific neck profile for each guitar. But maybe that actually means is that you can choose your own neck profile except on some guitars, where you can't.

So anyway, the problem is probably me. It's been a while since I bought a new G&L, I've been deep into vintage given that they are still relatively affordable.

[Danley]

I also dislike the new website - they replaced an appropriate density of information and organization, with a couple long, disorganized alphabetic lists and tons of ‘fashionable’ empty space. I can’t passionately complain about a company’s marketing strategy as long as the guitars remain good - but still annoying.

I possibly just no longer understand G&L's business model. If you hover your mouse over "Guitars" at the top of the home page, you can choose from "Custom Shop," "Tribute Series" and "Made in Fullerton." I exhaustively looked through all of them and found entire models of guitars missing, so I knew I was in the wrong place.

In order to find what I think of as the "normal" G&L guitars, you have to bypass all of the text on the home page, find "USA Guitars" in fine print in the footer, and then choose "View Option Order Models." And even then, I am not sure I found the right thing, because if you look at the specs, they no longer say you have a choice of neck profile like they used to. They list a specific neck profile for each guitar. But maybe that actually means is that you can choose your own neck profile except on some guitars, where you can't.

So anyway, the problem is probably me. It's been a while since I bought a new G&L, I've been deep into vintage given that they are still relatively affordable.

Agree it's a terrible website, but can't say I relate to the griping/angry stomping away some companies get just for having bad websites - especially when they still offer the same un-changed products and options. Seymour Duncan suffers from that too, and I can't get too alienated by it - I just close my eyes, pretend it's 1990 again and no one has a website I don't know if a website being tricky is a symptom of a bad business model 100% of the time.

I do agree 'Option Order' is a totally off-the-wall name for what in essence is the 'regular' way anyone bought a G&L for decades. It is again not so much a bad business model at play (since 'ordering options' is sort of the same one they always had) - but it is poor marketing. The 'Fullerton Standard' and 'Fullerton Deluxe' order options might be better off hidden from regular customers, since it is in essence just a 'dealer spec.' for retailers - a retail buyer is just as well assuming they got the same G&L everyone else gets built off the same menu, never mind that 1k shipped in that spec. to Musician's Friend.

But again - Like you, I'm not the sort of person who would bother custom (or 'option')-ordering a G&L anyway so not sure my opinion matters. I'd either grab one used online, or buy a new one retail where I'm actually able to play the thing first rather than speccing it all out and then hoping for the best. I'm the kind of guy who's a bad enough cook that choosing my own ingredients on my Subway sandwich is likely to ruin it - I'd rather have the chef/professionals do the cooking, and I do the eating, or playing as it is.

[Craig]

I also dislike the new website - they replaced an appropriate density of information and organization, with a couple long, disorganized alphabetic lists and tons of ‘fashionable’ empty space. I can’t passionately complain about a company’s marketing strategy as long as the guitars remain good - but still annoying.

I possibly just no longer understand G&L's business model. If you hover your mouse over "Guitars" at the top of the home page, you can choose from "Custom Shop," "Tribute Series" and "Made in Fullerton." I exhaustively looked through all of them and found entire models of guitars missing, so I knew I was in the wrong place.

In order to find what I think of as the "normal" G&L guitars, you have to bypass all of the text on the home page, find "USA Guitars" in fine print in the footer, and then choose "View Option Order Models." And even then, I am not sure I found the right thing, because if you look at the specs, they no longer say you have a choice of neck profile like they used to. They list a specific neck profile for each guitar. But maybe that actually means is that you can choose your own neck profile except on some guitars, where you can't.

So anyway, the problem is probably me. It's been a while since I bought a new G&L, I've been deep into vintage given that they are still relatively affordable.

Agree it's a terrible website, but can't say I relate to the griping/angry stomping away some companies get just for having bad websites - especially when they still offer the same un-changed products and options. Seymour Duncan suffers from that too, and I can't get too alienated by it - I just close my eyes, pretend it's 1990 again and no one has a website I don't know if a website being tricky is a symptom of a bad business model 100% of the time.

I do agree 'Option Order' is a totally off-the-wall name for what in essence is the 'regular' way anyone bought a G&L for decades. It is again not so much a bad business model at play (since 'ordering options' is sort of the same one they always had) - but it is poor marketing. The 'Fullerton Standard' and 'Fullerton Deluxe' order options might be better off hidden from regular customers, since it is in essence just a 'dealer spec.' for retailers - a retail buyer is just as well assuming they got the same G&L everyone else gets built off the same menu, never mind that 1k shipped in that spec. to Musician's Friend.

But again - Like you, I'm not the sort of person who would bother custom (or 'option')-ordering a G&L anyway so not sure my opinion matters. I'd either grab one used online, or buy a new one retail where I'm actually able to play the thing first rather than speccing it all out and then hoping for the best. I'm the kind of guy who's a bad enough cook that choosing my own ingredients on my Subway sandwich is likely to ruin it - I'd rather have the chef/professionals do the cooking, and I do the eating, or playing as it is.

Guys,

Based upon your comments, I don't think either of you checked out my post about the Specifications and Options forum. Or if you did,
did not find any of it useful and worthy of commenting on.

Submersible, yes, there are some models left out ot the main G&L Option Order pages. If you check out the January 23, 2019-present G&L U.S. Specifications & Options post, you would find those missing models. Note, I have stopped passing my feedback to Dave M. about these ommissions and various corrections because nothing has yet been done to correct them. Instead, I decided to add comments to those posts in the Specifications and Options forum, so that those who read them will be informed about those ommissions and corrections.

Based upon the comments you both posted here, I will be posting about the Specifications and Options forum and the various posts I have added
over the past several years to get feedback from members here. I will post this in the G&LDP forum & guitarsbyleo.com site Discussion forum in the near future.

[Danley]

I appreciate the work you've done to compile, Craig. I know the G&L website ultimately links to this forum, and the Specifications/Options Post is obviously *the* resource for anyone who wants a clear/comprehensive list of options - so the info certainly isn't unavailable, but getting to it does take more steps than most buyers expect - which is the perspective I envisioned while making my comments (and the funny names/titles like 'Option Order' don't help, whether or not a translation is given here on the forum.)

[FZTNT]

My take is that the "Option Order" moniker is likely related to the stigma associated with the old spec sheets that were called "Custom Specifications Sheet" that was confusing sellers and buyers alike that these are "Custom Shop" guitars.

Just my Tuppence.

Tom

[Danley]

Right - I’d struggle to come up with a better/less obtuse term that didn’t conflate with ‘Custom Shop.’ All said I’d aim for something blunt like ‘Build Your Own,’ and since a lot of people think G&L *was always* a Custom Shop, name that ‘Master Crafted’ or something.

Again- none of it of terrible importance to me what they call things, except I’m passionate enough to have these inane thoughts

[Dave Zav]

... but the the control plat really completes the looks and I prefer the output jack out the front... Dan

I agree with this and some of the other comments above on the new SC-2s but I have an SC-3 with the same control plate and I really don't like the knobs.
Now, I wouldn't change the knobs because they are a part of the "mojo" or charm of a 30 year old guitar but they would look cheap on the new SC-2
(I would have voted to sacrifice the plate on the new SC-2 for the chrome knobs if it had to be one or the other).
And even though I don't miss the plate so much, I do wish the jack was on the front too.

The slab body of my old SC-3 is cool, and adds to the "student" character of the guitar made for a budget price
but the body cuts on the new SC-2 further indicate class, along with the rear mounted chrome knobs.
These are not to be confused with "student" level guitars (were there newer SC-2s made with slab bodies?).

Maybe one other change I might have preferred is a maple fretboard or matching headstock.

In the long run I really like the clean look of the rear mounted controls on the new SC-2s so I've come to terms with the fact that it isn't a substitute for an old SC-2.
So, I still need to find one of those!

[WitSok]

... but the the control plat really completes the looks and I prefer the output jack out the front... Dan

I agree with this and some of the other comments above on the new SC-2s but I have an SC-3 with the same control plate and I really don't like the knobs.
Now, I wouldn't change the knobs because they are a part of the "mojo" or charm of a 30 year old guitar but they would look cheap on the new SC-2
(I would have voted to sacrifice the plate on the new SC-2 for the chrome knobs if it had to be one or the other).
And even though I don't miss the plate so much, I do wish the jack was on the front too.

The slab body of my old SC-3 is cool, and adds to the "student" character of the guitar made for a budget price
but the body cuts on the new SC-2 further indicate class, along with the rear mounted chrome knobs.
These are not to be confused with "student" level guitars (were there newer SC-2s made with slab bodies?).

Maybe one other change I might have preferred is a maple fretboard or matching headstock.

In the long run I really like the clean look of the rear mounted controls on the new SC-2s so I've come to terms with the fact that it isn't a substitute for an old SC-2.
So, I still need to find one of those!

To my knowledge all the reissued SC-2s had the contoured bodies. As with pretty much all G&L's during the run of the reissued SC-2s you could spec your options from the standard list. So maple fretboard and painted headstocks were available. There was store near me that had an SC-2 in graphite metallic, ebony fretboard, and body match headstock, saddlelock bridge... It tempted me many a times.

Yeah, the old knobs do look cheap, but they have grown on me. Actually what I think would work if they were to do a CLF version of the SC-2 is to do the control plate in chrome and use the CLF knobs.

Cheers, Dan

[cho]

I have run across several SC-2 reissues with no contours. I currently own two of them. They also have quarter sawn necks, so perhaps they were custom orders. (I bought them both used).

I prefer the SC-2 without the contours, as they have a slightly better balance, with less neck dive.

[jdetente]

I have run across several SC-2 reissues with no contours. I currently own two of them. They also have quarter sawn necks, so perhaps they were custom orders. (I bought them both used).

I prefer the SC-2 without the contours, as they have a slightly better balance, with less neck dive.

+1
I bought a used SC-2 that came without contours as well.

[Dave Zav]

I have run across several SC-2 reissues with no contours. I currently own two of them.
They also have quarter sawn necks, so perhaps they were custom orders. (I bought them both used).
I prefer the SC-2 without the contours, as they have a slightly better balance, with less neck dive.

+1
I bought a used SC-2 that came without contours as well.

Thanks for replying guys!
I'm really interested in other reissue SC-2s and never imagined there would be custom order versions (duh).
I consider my reissue to be very "stock" and I was looking for anything other than another black finished SC when I bought it (I had just got a black '84 SC-3, no contours).
I guess I felt pressured to make a purchase the week there were 3 used and in my price range online, but the black one would be the easiest to deal with.
I was immediately happy with the decision once I had it in hand but I'm still surprised to find there were more "choices" than the few I had seen (there isn't much online about the reissue SC-2s).

[Dave Zav]

and I was looking for anything other than another black finished SC...

I take it back.

SC-2, SC-3, and the Reissue.

[WitSok]

Wow, they look great - and I'm not normally a fan of black guitars. I think I may need to reconsider my previous bias...

Beautiful!

Cheers, Dan

[Danley]

All my G&Ls are black (on accident, somewhat.) I actually sort of prefer surf/pastel colors, so I tell myself the next G&L needs to be Bel Air/Seafoam

[mikemjr12]

I’ve got a Fullerton red 2016 SC-2, saddle lock bridge, maple fretboard. It’s such a great guitar. The best neck I’ve played. I do sometimes wish the pickups, particularly the bridge pickup, was a little hotter and had some more bass. It can be a little thin IMO, but no guitar is going to be perfect

[Dave Zav]

I’ve got a Fullerton red 2016 SC-2, saddle lock bridge, maple fretboard. It’s such a great guitar. The best neck I’ve played.

I played my reissue SC-2 tonight and thought the same thing.
The neck is best and in my collection this guitar is the finest and most reliable and "professional".