Tuesday's Lunch Report, April 19, 2011

[Muleya]

Hope everyone’s Tuesday is going well. It’s rainy here in VA again…I’m hoping I won’t have to spend more quality time with the shop-vac in the basement like I did over the weekend! Got my guitars up off the floor just in case…that part of the basement has never had water in it, but better safe than sorry!! And hopefully it’s just scattered showers, anyway.

Lunch today…there’s a bagel shop across the parking lot and while my go-to order is a Reuben on a marble rye bagel, I’m thinking of trying their Dallas sandwich…Philly-style sliced ribeye, provolone, grilled onions, lettuce, tomato, horseradish sauce. Not sure what kind of bagel, yet. Then an apple from home.

G&L Question

While I remember seeing G&L guitars in the catalogs way back in college in the late 80s, my interest was only budding at that point, I was mainly exposed by a friend who was already a gear head. I didn’t get my first electric until the late 90s…probably 1998 (which, interestingly is the year my first Legacy was built). And even then, I didn’t pay much attention to G&L until shortly before I bought that first Legacy in 2007. So I’m a bit of a latecomer here.

My first question is for my own curiousity here: Which current production models were in production during Leo’s lifetime? I’m not looking for all the variations, but just the basic models. For example, I know they were making ASATs then…but I don’t need it broken down by ASAT Classic or ASAT Deluxe…though I suppose if someone wants to do that, that would be interesting…it’s just a lot of work!

Also, I think I’m correct in understanding the Legacy was NOT in production during Leo’s lifetime…correct me if I’m wrong here. But assuming I’m correct, that leads me to my next question…is there any other classic Leo design from his Fender days that folks would like to see re-incarnated with Leo-inspired updates as a G&L model? For example, the Jazzmaster?

Non-G&L Question

It seems that vinyl record albums are making a comeback. Are there any vinyl buffs in our ranks that are excited about this?

I’ve got only a handful of vinyl albums…less than 10, but I’ve still got them…Journey Frontiers, the first two Boston albums, Sammy Hagar Standing Hampton, 4 or 5 early Petra albums, not sure what else. And one day I’m sure I’ll get my dads collection…mostly jazz from the 50s and 60s (some of which I enjoy), and a bunch of classical (not really my thing, but I occasionally enjoy it). I’m not sure how big his collection is, but more than 50 and probably less than 100. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with it…is it worth getting a turntable for them? If not, do I keep them or try to sell them? But I don’t need to figure that out now.

Anyone else here have a vinyl collection? If so, tell us about it and how much you listen to it.

[Craig]

G&L Question

My first question is for my own curiousity here: Which current production models were in production during Leo’s lifetime? I’m not looking for all the variations, but just the basic models. For example, I know they were making ASATs then…but I don’t need it broken down by ASAT Classic or ASAT Deluxe…though I suppose if someone wants to do that, that would be interesting…it’s just a lot of work!

That work has already been done in our G&L Knowledgebase : Production List of G&L Instruments (USA).

[bassman]

The current production models that were around when Leo was at the company are the ASAT ,L-2000 bass, S-500 and the SC-2.

The biggest demand for a reissue is for the G-200. I have never played one so I don't know if I would want to buy one.


I still have all of my vinyl records and my wife's considerable record collection, from the 60's 70's and early eighties.

I need to test out my turntable and buy a DBX for playing my vinyl records.

The CD didn't come out until 1984.

[repoman]

My turntable went on the fritz a year or 2 ago. At the time I still had about 300 LPs. Most of them have been replaced with CD so I sold a bunch off to a local used CD shop that opened up a vinyl section. The owner says his vinyl business has been growing steady. I also gave a bunch of records to a gal at work who has a teenage son that was getting into vinyl. I'm down to about 50-75 records. Mostly YES and prog type stuff that I've kept for sentimental reasons or cuz of the cool Roger Dean artwork and a couple of cool looking picture discs. We also have a stack of 45s that I should look through sometime. Maybe someday I'll pick up another turntable but don't hold your breath waiting.

Jeff

[Madcity Fats]

The current production models that were around when Leo was at the company are the ASAT ,L-2000 bass, S-500 and the SC-2.

Don't forget the F-100 (albeit in a slightly different design) as well as the SB-1 and SB-2 basses.

[darwinohm]

Muleya, snow predicted in Minnesota tonight. It is getting a bit dry so we could use a little moisture.

Leo era, I think are great. Especially collectible for G&L. I really like the new ones for the plek and QC in general. I know that wasn't the question, but today I have checked the setup on 5 of my G&Ls. They all feel and play great. I am going to check my Orange Gretsch this evening.

I have at least 300 LPs and most of them are in good condition. I have my original Garrard Lab 80 which still works fine. I have a brand new Garrard that has never been used on the shelf as a backup. I don't listen to them much but did pull out Singing In The Kitchen by Bobby Bare a couple of yeas ago and added the grandaughters to the track. It was a blast and I still listen to it on my Itunes. Mine are 50s to early 70s country and pop. Several years ago I used to get into DJ ing and spin them for Ginny into the wee hours of the morning. I do not see the wee hours of the morning much anymore. I have years of practice trying to be smooth with Ginny. If only I'd had some success!!! Keep it up Muleya--Darwin

[sam]

G&L catalogs, ah if only... I still have a few G&L flyers that help me recall the older models. As far as catalogs go, Mesa Boogie has been putting out a catalog that highlight the past to today's offerings, a model that I think G&L could use.

I too have always thought a G&L jazzmaster version would be cool.

Vinyl, love it! Until a few years ago I had many rows of LP's and a box of 45's. I scoured Napster when free, bought replacement CD's or burned borrowed copies of albums I wanted copies of but kept all Beatles, Dead, Zappa, Who and others. Mainly because I will not get rid of Beatles, group or solo stuff, and I love the sound, the jackets and the memories of vinyl. While I have wanted to make mp3 or CD copies I had not found the device to do it until this Christmas. My wife gave me a Crosby Director CD convertor from Kohl's that not only burns CD's but copies vinyl and casssette tapes without having to download software. I also had hundreds of tapes that I wanted to copy and this has done it. Have also copied comedy albums, family recorded cassettes and still have hundreds of Dead cassette bootlegs to convert to CD. While it is not a high speed copier, if you follow the instructions you can create perfect copies. It can be a retro looking everyday player as well. And sometimes you can pick it up on sale for about $150. Highly recommended.

http://www.kohls.com/kohlsStore/electro ... corder.jsp

Save the music!!

[Muleya]

Darwin, you crack me up!! Obviously you've had some success with Ginny...you got her to marry you, didn't you!!

Very cool info about the Crosley, Sam! I've seen those before and always wondered how well they worked. If I ever see them on sale, might have to pick one up for my dad. Years ago he bought an device to connect his turntable directly to the PC, but the popping and static made for disappointing results. He's aware they make software to remove that now, but I guess he's not sure he wants to shell out for it! Besides, it's a fairly time consurming process.

[blargfromouterspace]

I have a modest collection of vinyl, around 30 or so. I haven't had a turntable for a while so have stopped buying it. My aim is to collect all my favourite albums on vinyl. I still occasionally scour the shops for bargains and have picked up a couple. For now I really need to save up for a sound system to play it all. A few friends of mine are DJs who play at clubs and they have collections in the thousands - these guys have vinyl GAS big time!

[Boogie Bill]

I have an extensive record collection, but they have been locked away in a storage unit, and I'm pretty sure they are all ruined.

I have a Dual 1225 turntable from about 1974 that has served me very well over the years. If I can ever get into my record collection, the big trick will be in finding a good audiophile-quality cartridge. A lot of the stuff today really only fits S-arms, or is built heavy for scratching.

Bill

[Philby]

I have about 300 vinyl LP's and roughly 200 singles from the late 70's and early 80's. About 50 of the vinyl LP's are by The Beatles, and some of the special edition picture discs, coloured vinyl and EP's etc. are probably valuable now. Aside from the annoying crackle, I really enjoy the sound of vinyl compared with CD. I often trawl through my singles collection to look at the colour sleeves and listen to the B-sides. They're like postcards from a less complicated era. And maybe I'm dreaming, but the old Beatles mono albums have much more punch than the stereo CD re-issues.

My old Luxman direct drive turntable from the 80's is still going strong but, like Boogie Bill, I don't know where you get a top quality cartridge in the MP3 age. The cartridge that's in it is from the mid 80's and I remember it cost almost as much as the turntable!

Now I sound like my grandpa reminiscing about how great valve radios were .

Digital has its place too

[BadJaxx]

i went thru several occasions of losing pretty much everything...and my LP collections weren't immune....even lost 2 CD collections...
i have another CD collection, but haven't played one in years...i listen to music on the computer now and have a nice collection there...
in the virtual world where i hang out a lot, i enjoy finding, uploading, and creating playlists of music videos that i like...especially live performances....many from the 70s...and original MTV videos from the 80s...
always liked live albums and now enjoy watching them too...