Lunch report, Tues, May 17 2011. This Sandwich, this Engand.

[Ahryn]

Good afternoon all, for lunch today I decided to go with an oldy but a goody.

Corned beef on a whole grain bun with Tillamook cheese (that my parents managed to get past customs last time they were in the States), truly a fine cheese and I wish it was more available up north.

Some old dutch barbeque chips on the side and a frosty can of coke zero completes the meal.

With a little help from some friends.

G&L makes a great product and stands by it, but what about the guys at the front lines?

That's right today I am talking about G&L dealers or more dear to my heart dealing with Chris Larson of Pro Guitar Shop, he has gone out of his way numerous times it seems to make my first online guitar purchase go smooth as silk.

Such as when they received my guitar it seems like although it passed all visual inspections it wasn’t until Chris personally preformed a test on the electronics that he found the tone pot seemed to be bent, (possibly from being cross threaded?).

That's when Chris got in contact with G&L on my behalf, so long story short not only did G&L decide to have it shipped to them to fix it, they decided to expedite shipping both ways!

Truly dealers like this are great representatives of G&L and their ideals.

So the question today is have you had any great dealer experiences from a G&L reseller whether it was online over email or in person?

Sketchytown Revisited.

Now that's an example of a professional representation of an excellent product created by passionate people, but what of the other side?

When I was just starting to play guitar I was learning on my grandfathers classical (a Yamaha classical from the 70’s) and as with classical guitar generally finger picking is in order.

So I went to this guitar shop downtown to pick up some thumbpicks and fingerpicks.

Now shops in downtown Victoria (especially smaller ones) are either the nicest people you can possibly imagine, or they are pure sketchytown, this was the latter.

From what I could see there primary customers were probably buskers judging from there wares and the condition of the staff and when I was at the till to purchase the picks they had to call another store (a better store as I would find out later) to figure out what price they should sell them for.

Probably not the worst experience but when your first starting out it can be a little strange and off-putting.

So what kind bad/strange interactions have you guys had at guitar stores? or better yet if any of you work at a music store what kind of bad/strange customers have you had?

Random link of the day.
[youtube]8HE9OQ4FnkQ[/youtube]

[Philby]

Hi Ahryn and everybody else.

Breakfast today was 3 Weet Bix and lite milk, sprinkled with sultanas and dried apricots and topped with strawberry yoghurt. Lunch will be something sandwich-ey I expect, being the food of least resistance when I'm at my desk.

G&L Question: I haven't dealt with a G&L re-seller yet, so can't comment on any good/bad experiences. But I'm a long time addict of the Pro Guitar Shop web demos, particularly the G&L content. Andy's playing in particular is pure class and his tone always presents the instruments in their best light IMO. Andy could have me GAS-sing for a Squier strat just by featuring it on a web demo (call me impressionable). It's great to hear that PGS back up their excellent web demos with excellent customer service.

Strange Guitar Store observations: The last time I was in a guitar shop I was talking to the owner when one of the junior staff came over to ask the owner if he'd like any lunch from the shop down the street. The owner says 'yeah, I'll have a souvlaki thanks' and gave the junior guy some money out of the till. The young guy walks out the front door, looks right, looks left, looks right again and heads off to the right. The owner had been watching him intently the whole time, and when the junior dude walked off to the right he started to curse loudly. I asked the owner 'What's up?' and he explained that the junior dude fetches lunch every day, but always turns right instead of left and never finds the souvlaki place. 'He'll be back soon with no lunch and I'll have to go get it myself'. 'He's a really sweet guy, and an excellent guitarist, but he has no sense of direction whatsoever'.

[zapcosongs]

Never dealt with a dealer - if that makes any sense....

No interesting guitar shop stories either.

Just stopping in to say hi and to ask Philby what the heck "sultanas" are and to thank him for perpetuating the legend of the souvlaki moron. - ed

[darwinohm]

Ahryn, I had a sandwich again today after my daily walk. Ginny is gone this week so I am in charge of the cats. Fed them too!

The local G&L dealer, AG&B is an excellent dealer and is basically a boutique shop. They have a lot of high end guitars and they are priced like anyone else here in the twin cities. The only new G&Ls that I have bought are from them. They are the F-100 return, The 30Th aniv ASAT Classic and the ASAT Special. The guitars were perfect when I bought them and I do not expect any warranty issues. They are great people to work with. Tim, the guy that I buy from also builds O'Brien Amps, a boutique amp that he has designed.

The not so great is the local GC. I have purchased 16 , probably more guitars from them in the last 4 years. I have picked up some gems, mostly used and the advantage is that there are many young guys working there who do not know the products well which has been to my advantage. They have had a couple of very knowledgeable sales people who really knew guitars but they have moved on. The local store has change since they went private company, and they now only stock the high end stuff in their Edina store which I don't even go to anymore. They have treated me well over the years but I think that is a thing of the past. They don't stock anything that I would buy. I do check the used gear but that is not what it used to be. They really were a neat store a few years ago. Willies in St.Paul is okay and I have bought several there but they are really into vintage and there is not many pristine guitars in the store. They really push relics. Don't get me going on that.If you want to look at a relic, look me over. I am always in the market for another G&L. I could fall for an L-2500 but it would be used. I was planning on ordering a new one at some point but the new microwave serial number plate is a show stopper for me. I hope they reconsider that decision at some point. Life is good, I just checked out the setup on 3 guitars tonight. Entertainment to the finest!

Philby, you lost me on your lunch. Weet Bix and milk? Sounds like shredded wheat to me. With Ginny gone, I am cooking for the cats and they are fussy. I grilled Chicken for them tonight and they turned their noses up at that but I ate it! Good night folks. I just waxed up a Surf Green 57 reissue Strat and I can't get it off my mind. Everything should be Surf Green, but there is also room for some Red. Boy, would a Surf Green S-500 be cool-- Darwin

[blargfromouterspace]

I love a corned beef sandwich. It's one thing I never get tired of eating.


Too bad about the pot on your guitar, it'd most likely be in your hands right now if it weren't bent. I've had good experience dealing with G&L dealers. They've been very helpful.

My favourite guitar shop has excellent service. I recently bought new amp from them which was having problems with rattling tubes. I took it in to have them look at it and they replaced the tubes and fiddled with the sockets, at no cost to me and dropped it off to my door that evening. I don't shop anywhere else anymore. If only they were G&L dealers!

Ed, a Sultana is the wife of a Sultan.

[Philby]

Ed, Darwin,

Sorry to lose you on my breakfast ingredients (helpful images below). Blarg is technically correct re. the sultanas. What do you guys call them? Dried grapes?

Yes, Weet Bix ARE as unappetizing as they look. That's why you need to drown them in fruit and yoghurt.

[zapcosongs]

Ah, raisins. - ed

Blarg: Can I get chips with that? ;+)

[blargfromouterspace]

We have raisins too but they're made with different a grape variety. Sultana is the variety of grape, like Cabernet Sauvignon or Shiraz.

Ed - do you mean fries or crisps?

[BadJaxx]

ahhh Shiraz...when i was drinking it, only Aussie wineries were producing it, and very few people knew what it was...

i wish the Pro Guitar Shop demo vids would spend more time with clean tones...

[Ahryn]

wow those sultanas look delicious Philby, yeah PGS sure does know how to make gear shin in there vids. I remember seeing the one for the Marshal class 5 that moved me to try one in my local guitar store and well, it sounded less then spectacular to me. could be I plugged into a bad one or they all sound like a sack of bees.

Zapco: The question of the hour, glad to see an answer.

Darwin: from what I have gathered from other sources that sounds like the standard for most Guitar Centers, although if I am ever stateside I'll have to check them out just to see what deals I can find.
Also although I would not consider myself a strat man I do have a special place in my heart for the surf green variety.

Blarg: I love service like that, it makes you want to visit them more often.

Badjaxx: exactly! maybe if they did two vids for every guitar, one squeaky clean and one dirtier then a pig in mud.

[gitman001]

Tuesday lunch... just another sandwich day nothing fancy, just meat and bread.

The local G&L dealer in these parts in top notch... nothing but great service. It helps that both of the guitar players at the store are also G&L owners, they can really help people out by having real world experience. I have even brought some of my guitars in to show potential buyers some of the finishes and neck profiles i have - it is a pretty small shop they usually have 5 USA + tributes.

I always have a good chuckle every time i go into another shop across town - they deal F***ders and every time i pick one of them up they are completely out of tune! I am not talking about a few cents sharp or flat, i am talking strings so loose that they are almost ready to fall off. They must just open a box and hang it up. I can never imagine that happening at a G&L dealer.

I hope your guitar arrives this week... that would be a really great lunch report..... i was hoping for the same thing a few weeks ago, but alas i am still waiting Maybe the G&L gods will smile upon you this week!

Scott

[Dave_P]

Lunch was a hot pastrami sandwich and fries from the cafeteria at work, one of those lunches you taste the rest of the day despite several mints and hard candies to try and cover it up.

I've never bought a G&L new, only dealer in the state doesn't stock any US models and is about 45mins away.

Not really any sketchy guitar shop stories either. I deal mostly with Guitar Center or Daddy's Junky Music (local chain) unless I need to get my guitar or amp serviced. I guess my sketchiest story is I sometimes visit a local vintage guitar shop, I was chatting with one of the owners one day as I saw he set up a repair/service area, he asked an awful lot of questions about tubes/tube amps and didn't seem to even know what equipment he would need to service them
Just goes to show, you need to do some research before dropping off your equipment. You would think a vintage specific shop would be a good place to drop off your vintage gear for repair.

-Dave

[CGT]

The only local G&L dealer that I know is a high-end music shop that sells all manner of instruments and I find the head guitar salesman to be a little annoying in the way he trashes Fender to sell G&Ls, and somewhat pushy. I found myself being treated to a hard sell and G&L history lesson even though I already own a Legacy and understand the merits of the brand. I'm not a fan of the hard sell approach to anything, especially a musical instrument. To be fair, he left me alone to try a 30th Anniversary model in the amp room for a good 20 minutes, but he is really old school and, as knowledgeable and helpful as he is (I have to give him props for knowing a heckuva lot about guitars) I am not a fan of his selling style.

In general, I've had good experiences with musical stores. I met one of my dearest friends at the parts counter of one. And I am lucky in that I have had good music stores with really good staff near my last few residences. However, there was that one behind-the-counter slacker who sleepily responded with "Like, we don't believe in that stuff so we don't, like, have any, uh-kay!" when I asked for Finger Ease while propping his head up on his hand and leaning his elbow against the counter.

[Dr B]

Great discussion.

My local dealer in the UK was a fully 'independent' dealer and sold lots of 'non-mainstream' brands including G&L and Blade (another great make of teles and strats). It was a small shop and I use to love going in and having a proper conversation about music, guitars, and G&L.

Unfortunately they went bust just before xmas and I do not know if anyone else in the area deals with G&L. Most guitar shops around here are mainstream and selling the 'coca cola' of guitars (you know the brand i mean.....) and little else. The kids that often pass off as staff are all 'shredders' and little else - walking around in pants hanging down around their knees, saying 'yeah man' a great deal and looking as if 'bath night' was sometime last week.

My new custom creations / special build legacy was imported from a dealer in the USA (Speciality guitars plus, USA). I had long distance phone calls and e-mails with the owner Larry who really looked after me. So my first experience of getting a USA G&L, and getting it shipped to the UK has been a very positive one.