Lunch Report - Wednesday February 23, 2011

[KenC]

Lunch:
Today's lunch will be leftover pasta with marinara and sausage, with a diet soda from the vending machine and a couple of oranges for after-lunch snacks.

G&L Topic:
The responses to yesterday's question (which G&L instrument would you most like to see reissued) were overwhelmingly in favor of maple or mahogany bodied instruments - Broadcasters and G-200s. I've owned or played instruments in most of G&L's body wood options (everything but poplar and lacewood) and must say I haven't noticed a major difference in sound between the different woods. The exceptions are an early version mahogany S-500 and an ash-bodied Skyhawk from the mid-80s. The only difference in those instruments aside from the wood is the pickguard material, but the tone is completely different - the S-500 is tremendously bright and airy, while the Skyhawk is rather dark. Ironically, the S-500 is black and the Skyhawk is a buttery light yellow. Question of the Day: How much (if at all) does body material influence your choice of instruments?

Non-G&L Topic:
I was stationed in the San Diego California when I served in the Navy in the late 1980s. All things New Age were very popular out there at that time. You couldn't go to a mall, shopping center or swap meet without seeing vendors with tables full of different crystals for sale. The saying was to "never select your crystals - let your crystals select you". I was never selected by any crystals, but I have been selected by quite a few guitars over the years. My first G&L was a case in point. I was playing electric bass regularly in the late 90s, and the weight of my old Fender Jazz was starting to cause shoulder pain (must have been that swamp ash body). I went to the local music shop in search of a Steinberger or an old student model Fender. I was dead set on either of those options, and nothing else. That was, until I saw an old SB-1. I picked it up purely from curiosity, and didn't put it down again until I reached the cash register. I knew nothing about G&L at that time other than having heard the "L" stood for Leo, but I knew from the moment I saw it that it was the right bass for me. Twelve years later, I still haven't had a desire to own any other electric bass. Question of the Day: Did you select you instrument(s), or did you instrument(s) select you?

[yowhatsshakin]

Hi Ken,
Don't know what lunch will bring yet. My team is in the final stages of a release of our software and it is a bit crunch time. Have to see whether I can 'afford' to escape the mayhem and eat out instead of whatever my employer is providing.

As far as tone woods go, I am not all too picky. When your first guitar was a LP rip-off where the body turned out to exist of a couple of pieces of nondescript wood with laminate for top, side, and back, almost anything is an improvement. But I tend to look at figuring and whether the pice of wood is esthetically pleasing when it concerns electrics. For opaque finishes this is a non-issue of course. I trust some builders of acoustics better than others such that I don't have to worry about the tone woods. You'll know they build great guitars.

For sure some guitars chose me. When I was dissatisfied with my burgundy LP Standard, this great sounding PRS Artist II popped up. Years before I had picked up some PRS marketing material when these models were in production and I had been lusting over an Artist II at the time knowing they were out of reach. But then through strange circumstances here it was. Likewise, when I was looking for a goldtop, all Gibson '57 reissues I had tried didn't satisfy me. And then you visit a GC and there is a used PRS Goldtop Singlecut on the wall. The first G&L merely happened because i visited a more mom-and-pop kinda shop before I ever visited the local GC, and there was this wonderful Clear Orange ASAT on the wall. I didn't get that particular guitar, but I was sold on the brand for sure. Why you stumble over these things I don't know but I won't complain. Of course many of the guitars in my collection I explicitly sought out, but then still, I am pleasantly surprised how even some rare models just seem to pop up out of nowhere.

- Jos

[bassman]

As far as tone woods go- I am of the opinion that the individual piece or pieces of wood that make up a particular guitar or bass will determine if that instrument is dull, average or great in tone. I don't think appearance of finish has anything to do with it.
I have basswood, alder and poplar bodied basses that are great sounding "plain Jane" instruments.
Because of this, I will always play a bass or guitar before buying it.
Many good looking instruments built with premium woods are just average in tone. You can't listen with your eyes.

Most of my guitars and basses sort of chose me. I find a good deal on an instrument and I buy it or put it on layaway.
I bought all of my G&Ls on impulse after finding them in stores or on Craigslist.
I recently bought a 1962 reissue Jazz bass from 1983 that was a near basket case.
The neck was twisted, the pickups were shot and the finish is very worn, but It turned out to be a very nice instrument after I got to work on it, replaced the pickups and straightened the neck.

I enjoy resurrecting trashed basses and guitars to a lesser extent. That's my hobby, along with playing in a band.

[legacyman]

Hey Ken,

That's a couple of good questions,so I decided to throw in my two cents worth.

Wood Types: I gravitate toward Mahogany with a Maple Top for most guitars I guess because of my early Les Paul days. I love that warm mellow sound and good midrange tone with that bright punch from the maple. But here in recent years I have really gotten into the strat style guitars because of their lighter weight and feel of the neck (Les Paul necks have a tendecy to be a little to thick for my small hands). So on the strat style guitars I really like the Alder wood. Although I did own a mahogany strat at one time (still wish I had that one). I am not a big fan of Ash, not because of the tone, but because they tend to be a little heavier. And this old man can't tolerate the heavy ones anymore.

To choose or be chosen: I was chosen for the most part, you know, you go out shopping for a certain one and you end up with exactly the opposite when you go home That's how I ended up with the mahogany strat. Which I had to sell recently due to sucky economy (company closed its doors after 20 yrs)!

And that's where G&L comes into the picture! I went out shopping for a new strat recently in the local GC store, when low and behold I spotted this strat looking guitar with funny looking pups. So out of curiosity I pulled it off the wall and plugged it into a Super Sonic amp and well, you know the rest of the story. I said to the saleman that it sounded more like a strat than a strat. Plus it had the 12" radius which is what I was use to from all those Les Paul days. It was a Comanche in the Blueburst, a beautiful guitar, I think it was a 2004 to 2007 model and it just wasn't quite what I was looking for, but it sold me on the G&L guitars. From then on I was on a search for the "one". I guess you could say I chose this one and ended up buying it online because I couldn't find a local dealer that even stocked the USA models. I haven't even played it yet, but I trust the G&L name & quality enough to take the leap of faith. Hold on a moment I see the UPS truck pulling up out front. YES, IT"S HEAR! Well, I'll continue the rest of the story later, I got a Legacy to try out.
Rod

[sickbutnottired]

I don't have a consistent wood preference, tone seems to vary so much guitar to guitar. A lot of guitars with humbuckers that I have really thought sounded great where mahogany, but I have had very average sounding mahogany guitars with humbuckers as well. That is one of the reasons I buy mostly used guitars. In MT my choices are limited, so I buy off the bay. The only way I have found to do it is to buy fearlessly, but don't overpay. Then I give them a go. Some stay, but most go.

I have been doing this in serial mode, but to really learn more I will have to collect a few at time and do more side-by-side playing/listening.

The biggest challenge for me is not to get sucked into a finish that looks great, and then overpay. When I am buying, everyone loves that finish; but, when I go to sell, they are over it.

[blargfromouterspace]

I prefer ash bodies on guitars with single coils, mahogany/korina/maple for guitars with humbuckers. I've bought all three of my G&Ls without having played them, and I'm happy with them all. I'm not the worlds fussiest person when it comes to woods on an electric guitar.


Chooser Vs. Choosee - Great question. The first time I tried out a telecaster type guitar I was hooked. I guess that I was chosen by the guitar. Same with amps - I still really want to get a Fender Twin...

[offplanetfilms]

For single coils, I definitely find my ash/ mape neck legacy the most difficult to put down. Just has a little extra dreamy sparkle to it... great lows & highs with a tight bottom end. My alder/ rosewood legacy is quite darker sounding... more resonate, but I don't play it as much. For humbuckers, I have an enphone wilshire reissue that's equally hard to put down (all mahogany).

[Boogie Bill]

Body material is more important to me on an acoustic. I lke rosewood dreads, though a mahogany D-18 is a worthy choice. Koa is a good choice, and I had a cocobolo Taylor that was beautiful (and sounded terrific, too.) But, I'm not a big fan of maple backed acoustics; though perhaps in a 12-string it would work well.

It would be interesting to hear my maple/mahogany ASAT Deluxe compared to ash- and alder-bodied versions. (In that case though, the HB pickups might not give a complete picture of the sonic differences.)

The other thing to keep in mind is that everyone hears things differently. "One man's ceiling is another man's floor." I try not to think in terms of "good" and "bad", but "different", without judgement.

On electrics, I can be happy with a slab of mahgany and two P-90s, like a LP Special. I have both alder and ash bodied G&Ls. Out of my whole repertoire, there's only ONE song where I prefer an alder Legacy over an ash Legacy--and that for the alder's more acoustic like tone. There's a huge controversy on the LP Forum regarding chambered versus solid LPs, but it doesn''t matter much to me. Yes I hear a difference, but not counting pickup differences, I don't really hear anything that would make me choose either construction over the other.

===============================

Well, I think you can call me "The Guitar Whisperer", even though I'm not as cute as Jennifer Love-Hewitt. I can definitely hear when a guitar is speaking to me, both positively and negatively. I can do this with stuffed Teddy Bears, too--and sometimes it even creeps me out! (A story for another time!)

Like Bassman, I like to rescue guitars; but I've had to force myself to step away from that and not do it anymore. It is just a hugh temptation. I have a two Gibson Les Paul Supremes with broken headstocks; a new 2002 Martin D-28 that had a whole punched in the side--vandalized in the shop--and a few others that just needed to be cleaned up and set up properly to become fabulous guitars. I'm still learning, working on hearing the difference between a dead guitar and dead strings. I'm trying to find the one that may be tight sounding at first, but just knowing that it wants to be played--like a race horse wanting to run.

I think over the years, I've had close to 70 guitars, with my collection now at 48. I've had some real gems along the way, many I wish I had back. I've been very fortunate to have found so many guitars at such great prices over the years. Right place, right time. And yeah, I'd say many of those guitars chose me. Every guitar has a story.

I don't really own these instruments, I m just hanging onto them so the next guy has a great story to tell.

Bill

[Philby]

I have guitars made out of alder, ash, basswood and mahogany with rosewood and maple necks. Does any one wood type generally sound better than another? I don't think so. There's so much natural variation within a species that making a blanket generalisation is nearly impossible. But I definitely agree that guitars get better as they age. So much so that I try to buy guitars with 10+ years on them these days.

Re. chosen vs. choosee. I agree with Bill. The favourite instruments in my collection are the ones that have appeared from left field. Presented by the universe as if by magic. They're always different from what I thought I wanted too. That's how I stumbled on G&L. Now that I've realised this principle is at work, I try to remain non-prejudiced when trying out a new guitar.

[cmguitar]

Ken,
When I got my Legacy I was looking for a USA Strat.When I got my ASAT III I was looking for a PRS or maybe a Les Paul. When I got My USA Strat I was looking for a ASAT or a USA Tele. I never end up with what I was looking for when I go guitar shopping. I never buy new I always go to the used guitars when I go to a music store.I always try out guitars before I buy one too. Woods finishes ect... does not make any difference to me sound ,feel, if I like the guitar or not are deciding factors on my guitars. The guitars i got are ones like the other guys have said. They found me.
As far a finishes go. Color, nitro, poly, satin ect... If Poly was around in the 50's when Leo Fender got started he would have been using poly back then.

Chet

[astutzmann]

I don't know much about woods, but am learning. Have a semi hollow bluesboy, swamp ash, its great, sounds wonderful. Have a legacy, alder which is wonderful. Have ordered an ASAT Special Deluxe which is mahogany with maple top, hoping its wonderful, should be very very bright with those pups.

I also have other guitars which are not these wood types and they sound like tin to me, screetchy if I can use that word. Hurts my ears. So, I am a believer now that the guitar pros know what they are doing when they pick these woods, especially in a quality product like G&L

Since I am a lefty and there are not a lot of lefty guitars around for me to try in the stores, I have had to choose. When I first started, I had never heard of G&L but was told that their quality was excellent and consistent and if I ordered one, I would be happy, whereas if I ordered a fender, who knows........so I became a chooser and have picked my axes.

Good thread