G&L Topic: Model/Design/Option You Want that G&L Doesn't/Won't/Can't Offer.
First the question. Is there a model/style of guitar, or some option/configuration you would love to see that G&L does not have for whatever reason?
A bit of backstory. I would love to see a reissue of the Starcaster or some G&L variant. Not the crappy Strats that Fender inexplicably calls Starcasters, even though they are totally just budget/starter Stratocasters as far as I can tell. These guys (pics by way of TDPRI):
I'm a bit of a Radiohead fan, so you can probably figure out where I first saw these. They are kinda cool looking, they really look pretty AND innovative to me. The headstock is strange at first, but grows on you (I think it is cool and matches the body's contours nicely), Jonny Greenwood certainly sounds good playing one, and the more I look at it the design just really, really makes sense for a rock-orientated semi-hollow guitar. Check out that treble-side cutout! It would also be different enough from my Heritage Prospect, or even an H-535/ES-335, to have its own sort of niche. It definitely has me curious. In reality, my Prospect probably covers that niche just fine for the semi-hollow needs. Still, the Starcaster just seems like a really great design in its own right.
From what I can gather Fender has no intention of reissuing or updating the long-abandoned Starcaster, I can guess they would want to keep the design to themselves just in case, and I am not sure if there is any real push for G&L to enter the semi-hollow arena outside of the Thinlines (which might also fit the same niche as well, at least to a certain degree). Even if G&L wanted to make a Starcaster-type reissue, I have no idea what legal issues that would represent. It seems to be a nice reinvention of the H-535/ES-335 style with its own updated design and some really, really smart design specs. Sadly, it seems to have been abandoned despite being apparently a great overall design.
Non-G&L: Creatively Lame or Disappointing Designs/Marketing: Ideas or Results.
For this, what are marketing designs (advertising/commercials, or products) that either seem lame but actually work, OR seem cool but are huge disappointments? Now this one might be a bit of a dead end or it might take off. Hopefully it is at least somewhat amusing to you as a group.
My example for things that seem cool but end up being a huge disappointment is from my own childhood. The Transformers. I guess I cannot say the whole concept was creatively "lame," and I loved them as a kid. Certain examples, when you think about it, were pretty stupid. Primarily:
Soundwave, an evil robot whose awesome transformation was to turn into . . . a cassette-deck boombox:
I understand it was a disguise, and it was cool he could shoot out cassettes that turned into pterodactyls or robotic black panthers, or a robot mini-me. But the way they stretched the laws of physics made it a total stretch. He went from this HYUGE giant robot that could squash trucks to this boombox small enough (not to mention light enough) for some 80's sheik kid to pickup without even so much as dislocating a shoulder. Even as a small child, my grasp of the basics of science made my mind just slip a gear when that happened.
Megatron, the evil robot with a giant canon strapped to his arm that transformed into his disguise of . . . a Walther P38?:
First off, similar to Soundwave, his ability to alter his mass always threw me off. Second, I did not get the design. He went from a robot who could fly and had this HYUGE gun on his arm to a 9mm pistol? Even lamer, he transformed into a small handgun that could not even move or fire itself? And hardly the most inconspicuous design. At least Soundwave's transformation made for an effective disguise. Want to draw attention to yourself? Turn into a gun just lying around. Trust me, NOBODY is going to walk by and not notice that. The toy itself also had part of the barrel & trigger guard sticking out of his crotch in a fairly phallic manner. I know it's one of the constraints of the design, but it tended to come across a bit clunky.
As for creatively lame ideas that actually work? The Snuggy:
I hate to admit it, and I totally, TOTALLY made fun out of these. They are the goofiest idea I have seen in a LONG time. But my wife wanted one, I got it for her, and she loves the thing. Go figure.
-Cheers
. My current 7 build is also a strat shape (traditional, not ibanez super strat). I find that the most comfy shape to play on. My ASAT has tummy and arm cuts on it too. Never really cared for carved tops though, not sure why.
The pickups look too big, the lower f-hole is obscured by the pickguard and the bridge looks cumbersome. I have an old Baldwin which has that sort of offest thing going on and it's much nicer to look at:
I'll probably just have one nice guitar that has one possible flavor out of many, get it setup to sound nice to me, then start looking for that ASAT or Bluesboy I'll eventually be picking up.