LR: Monday, August 15, 2011

[jonc]

Intro

I'm known around here as jonc (not to be confused with Jon C) and have been a fan of G&L since picking up a L-1000 back in 1982. Since then I've gone through a number of G&L guitars and basses but the few I've kept are all Leo-era except one. I'm not sure if it's the Leo "mystique" or that I like the early guitars and basses better, but that said the instruments that BBE are producing are second to none and have a fit, finish and polish to them that imho, are ahead of those from the Leo-era. Here are two of my favorites. What are yours?



Lunch

Today's lunch is farmers market "specials." Every Sunday around 7AM you can find me at the local farmers market and right now it's all about tomatoes, corn, and lots of great fruit. So fruit salad, corn on the cob (cuban style) and Bruschetta are on the menu.

Non G&L Question:

Back in the day my family and friends played a lot of board, card and word games. Favorites were Mad Libs, Hangman, 20 Questions, Monopoly, Risk,and many more. One of the games we used to play, especially with company or new friends was "Who Would You Bring Back From History?" In addition to the usual suspects many suprising choices would be made and I always thought it was both a fun and very revealing game. My choice would be Abraham Lincoln. Without getting into politics I think we need real leadership and I often wonder what "Honest Abe" would be able to do with solving the problems facing us. Who would you choose and why?

G&L Question:

The thread about what G&L could do to expand their reach was a good one and I think we all agree that having the guitars and basses in as many stores and regions as possible would be a huge plus for BBE. But I've always felt they've never had a really great tag line or "elevator" pitch. So putting on your "Mad Men" and copy writer hats what tag line and/or elevator pitch can you come up with that would help sell someone on G&L? Unfortunately I'm about as creative as a brick when it comes to these types of things but I'll take a swipe at it anyway:

G&L Legacy: What a Strat wants to be and never will! Or: What a Strat wants to be when it grows up!

Thank you to Casey for bestowing the 2nd highest honor on me and I hope I do credit to the very fine LR's we've recently had. Have a great day and looking forward to an interesting week!

Jon

P.S. Replies will be spotty and slow today as I'm already in "fire-drill" mode at work but I will try and respond to posts as best I can.

[darwinohm]

Jon, beautiful guitars! The neck and body on the Bluesboy looks killer.

Monopoly was always a favorite of mine. We played it a lot in the 50's when I was a kid. We gave our granddaughter The Game Of Life (electronic version) last week and it is a great game and I think is a good teaching tool for kids. It stresses education and career building and is a fun game.

The Legacy is what a Strat probably wanted to be. I have many Strats but the Legacys are my favorites over the Strats. They are on the average much better looking. and G&L uses much better grained woods in the transparent models. Fender uses mostly Alder unless you get a custom shop with a special order of ash. They have some ash American models but not with the hot grain you see in G&L's.

Thanks for stepping up this week and I know that G&L is working on some cool marketing stuff with some of their larger dealers. -- Darwin

[jonc]

Darwin: definitely interested in what G&L might be up to on the merch and marketing front.

Tim: at least you know where both the 'quilt and Z-2 are. just in case you ever get the urge. I have to second your choice of the ASAT Special SH, although no f-hole on mine please. Come to think of it, I got two over the years from you. The Darth Vader "model" and the Fullerton Red w/ crazy Birdseye neck. Either of which I would love to have again.

[Aussie]

H Jon
Nice couple of guitars. How do you find the neck binding. I've never played a guitar with neck binding and often wondered if it has any effect on playablility. Just a personal taste thing but my preference is for a neck without binding.

Non G&L: Who to bring back. Einstein? Who knows where the Einstein mind might take us with another 50-100 years of accumulated knowledge available to work from. Second pick would be my mother. Not for the sentimental reasons - although they would be powerful in themselves - but because she passed away at a young age having started a couple of important projects and she should have a chance to see how they turned out and how many they have helped!

G&L: "G&L - The other guitar company to carry Leo's name. The only company to bring you his Legacy!"

cheers, RObbie

[yowhatsshakin]

Hi Jon,

Great to see you as LR this week. Really looking forward to your contributions. Hope you show off (parts of) your collection

Favorite pre-BBE era guitar:
Could go for either of the 2 Broadcasters but I played this pre-BBE ASAT III yesterday and boy is it sweet.


Favorite BBE-era guitar:
Pick any one of these four. Tim has done a remarkable job on each one. One became a best-selling production model, another is a bare-bones ASAT with some wonderful tones from a single pup, the third a Classic with 'modern' pups (and some spectacular binding, and the last is just sonic nirvana. And Tim, even if you win the lottery, you can ask but the answer will be 'No'


Non G&L Question:
There are many worthy candidates ranging from famous politicians to artists to scientists. But in the end I'll choose somebody about whom no book has been written: my maternal granddad. He was a wise man and unfortunately I was too young to fully realize that. I would love to have another couple of walks with him again just like I had in my early teens and philosophize about life, politics, nature. And foremost, ask him about WWII especially about the harsh winter of '44 when he had to try to feed a family, run a farm, and help out other without the detection of the Germans who could observe his house from the church steeple next door. I heard some stories from other family members only after his passing but I would have loved to hear it from him.

G&L Question:
Hard to come up with a slogan. It is unfortunate that FMIC will stop any reference to Leo in any campaign whereas that is as much a part of G&L's legacy as it is of Fender's.

Good start!

- Jos

Edit: Fix image link after album was lost.

[blargfromouterspace]

Hi Jon C.....

That Bluesboy would have to be my favourite pre-BBE instrument. What a piece of work! Or maybe Jos' ASAT 50. Damn!

Slogan: Here in Australia there was a great ad campaign by a small goods manufacturer called Don. The tagline "Is Don, is good!". Something like that would be just dandy.

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[jonc]

Great ad Jamie. And just for the record, the quilt BB is from the BBE-era.

Aussie: i find that a bound neck does feel different and until broken in can have a "stiffish" feel to it. i also prefer no binding and rolled edges, but have to admit that binding does add a very nice touch.

Jos: great story about your grandfather. i wish i had had more time with mine but unfortunately most of them died off while i was very young, and stories told 2nd and 3rd hand just aren't the same.