Lunch Report ---> Thursday, October 20, 2011

[jwebsmall]

G&L: Mission Improbable: With a little help from our friends.

Word must be getting out. I could be wrong but since I started following G&L on ebay
(about 2 years before I actually played one) I've noticed the resale prices of used
G&L's being less and less of a bargain. In other words the used G&L's are selling at
closer to their new counter part MAP prices for both Tributes and USA models. And this
is true even in hard financial times! It was not uncommon to see comments in reviews
about it being a great guitar but you'll take a hit on reselling it if you should ever
decide to do so. I don't see those comments any more. Our big secret may be coming to
an end! I think the Ascari GTS and Fiorano GTS are going to bring in a lot of young
future artists and hobbyists and gradually increase the demand for G&L used and new
instruments. This is good news for G&L collectors.

What are you perceptions of G&L resale values? Are they going up, going down or
staying put?

Mission Improbable is today's topic. this is a fantasy or dream but it might be fun to
play along (pun intended). G&L decides to sponsor you as a G&L artist to further
increase demand for G&L guitars, basses and pedals.

Which guitar, bass, or pedal becomes your signature model?

You can post a youtube video of your band, song or even a band you could imagine role
playing in.

My signature guitar would be some derivative of the Invader or Fiorano GTS and I would
be some artist like Joe Satriani but adapted more to Urban Pop with some wild guitar
parts. The band doesn't exist - at least not yet. (I already have the band's name
picked.)


Non G&L: Lunch?

Well I had a two mile walk earlier this morning and my shot of raw unfiltered vinegar.
For lunch I had some pepitas (raw pumpkin seeds). No I'm not dreaming I really did
have pepitas. Pepitas are a main staple in the diet of Romanian gypsies. So why should
that be interesting? Because prostate cancer is practically unknown about Romanian
gypsies! And it turns out that raw pepitas are loaded with organic zinc and the
essential amino acids known to prevent prostate problems. I eat pepitas probably 3
times a week. (I would be thrown out of the band if they knew what I eat.)

Just got back from an evening ride on my GT mountain bike. The days are really getting
short now and I'm going to stop the evening rides soon until spring. Over half my ride
was in the dark. Today was a beautiful fall day here in northern Virginia under blue
sky.

[Boogie Bill]

Playing “ketchup”…..

Monday: Unfortunately, I don’t own a G&L bass. I would love to have one, but I really don’t play bass. I have a Fender Precision “Lyte” bass that I bought for recording needs, and it has also helped with some songwriting. I currently have two bass amps: a 1970’s Randall Commander RB120 115 combo, and a Peavey Combo 300 with a 15” Black Widow speaker. The Peavey is the better amp, with more power and the graphic EQ; but the Randall works very well for low volume bass and as a guitar amp.

My first choice for a G&L bass would be a L-2000. I’ve recently seen great deals on two L-2500s—but both of them were fretless! Sorry, not for me; but both were REALLY beautiful instruments. An L-1500 or an old L-1000 would be okay choices. I think the bassist in my band is starting to think about an ASAT bass.


Tuesday: I can’t see any reason why G&L would want to build any kind of lap steel. Talk about a niche market. I can’t even get them to build a 12-string! I think in all my years of playing, I have only met one guy who played lap steel, and he merely “dabbled” in it.

I would concede that the MFD pickups: Z-coils, S-500’s and ASAT Specials would probably make for great lap guitar pickups. They just rip for slide guitar.


Wednesday: I’ve owned three “tele” bodied guitars: my 1969 Telecaster Thinline, an ASAT Classic SH, and my current ASAT Deluxe. All very nice guitars, but in my opinion, they can’t touch a Legacy. Face it; the Tele was nothing more than a rough draft for the Stratocaster—the MOST popular electric guitar in history. The Legacy, Legacy Special, Comanche and S-500 models are the ultimate in Strat design. The Tele is a 2x4—the Legacy is pure sex.


Thursday: Well, if I’m going to be asked to sit in with a band, it is probably going to be filling Ronnie Wood’s spot in the Rolling Stones. At my age I’d have to be filling in for another old geezer. I probably wouldn’t use the Ascari—I’m sure that my USA-made Legacy-bodied guitars would suffice, and I’m sure G&L would rather I endorse those instruments than the Ascari. the Comanche in particular would seem to be the perfect choice for the hord-rockin' Stones.

Other bands that I might be interested in playing with would be Bad Company, and touring as the second guitarist in Bachman-Turner Overdrive. Randy Bachman is a phenomenal guitarist, very under-rated, and I think it would be a great leaning experience. And ditto for playing with Crosby, Stills and Nash. Stephen Stills is another of my heroes, and it would be a great learning experience.

Good job on the LR this week!

Bill

[jwebsmall]

Thanks Bill. I remember seeing Graham Nash in person playing with the Hollies.
I saw Crosby, Stills and Nash at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia Maryland
back in 1970? Great show!

I may end up building my own lap steel with parts from the G&L online store.

You only got me by a year and you seem to be running on all cylinders.

[smurph1]

Man I loves me some Orbison..Tom Waits looks like he's about 12.. As far as the fantasy band goes..I'd probably be Jimmy Page around the time of the recording of the first Zeppelin album using my ASAT Classic..I'm tempted to use the rest of Zeppelin as the rest of the band, but that would be a cop out, So...How about John Entwhistle on bass, Then it's probably a tossup between Gary Moore and Joe Bonamassa, on the other guitar.. Maybe Mick Fleetwood on drums? Man this is hard!!

[jwebsmall]

Bill what is your assessment of the legacy versus the S-500?

When I bought my legacy I almost bought an S-500 instead
but they didn't have one in the store and I've never seen
one in the flesh so I went with my Fullerton red legacy you
see in my avatar. I love this guitar. I love my tribute Invader
XL (discontinued) also and plan one day on upgrading it to the
USA model.

[jwebsmall]

smurph1: Gary Moore - there will never be another LP player like Gary -
a real class act!

I liked the bass player for James Brown. I forget his name at the moment.

[Boogie Bill]

Bill what is your assessment of the legacy versus the S-500?

When I bought my legacy I almost bought an S-500 instead
but they didn't have one in the store and I've never seen
one in the flesh so I went with my Fullerton red legacy you
see in my avatar. I love this guitar. I love my tribute Invader
XL (discontinued) also and plan one day on upgrading it to the
USA model.

One of the GREAT things about my collection is my G&Ls. I have 11 Legacys at the moment; three Legacy Specials and two each of the Comanche and S-500 models. I can go from classic vintage strat tones, to humbucker tones with the LS model, and strat on steroids tone with the Comanche and the S-500. And since all the guitars have the same feel and ergonomics, moving between them is super easy.

When I gig, I usually take as many five instruments. A Legacy is my Number One guitar, and iIuse it for about 60% of the songs my band does. I'll do 12-15 songs on a 2HB guitar; usually a Les Paul, ES-335, Ibanez GR-520 Ghostrider, or Ibanez AS-120 Artstar. I'll have a 12-string DanElectro Innuendo to play 3-4 songs on, probably my Taylor 710CE acoustic and my 5-string banjo. Last, I usually bring along a Legacy Special. The LS is great because with the PTB controls, I can get close to vintage alnico tones, yet it can also backup my 2HB guitar with it's thick, PAF-ish tones.

Back in the day, with my Seattle band, I used an S-500 and the Legacy. The Legacy had that great vintage Strat tone, while the S-500 had higher output and was perfect for the hard rock stuff and "Tejas Blooze." Another thing I like using the S-500 for, suprisingly, is when I'm playing some jazzier things. I can run the PTB treble way down for a sweet mellow tone on the neck pickup that can still cut through; yet I can get those quacky Strat tones. The MFD's really can scream with the lead channel of the Mesa Boogie amps I use.

The Comanche has a tone that is similar to the S-500, but it is a little less aggressive. I set mine to have a dark and powerful tone lowering the treble and presence on my amp and boosting the mids. This is a fun guitar--it's a blank slate when it comes to tone. It really doesn't sound like anything on the market--because I have it set to sound like me. The PTB works best with the more powerful pickups in the S-500, LS and Comanche--so you can easily find a signature tone of your own. The Comanche has one main advantage over the S-500--the pickups have single coil clarity but they are humbucking. It's great when I'm working around dimmers and neon lights. For more info on the Comanche, search for my "Comanche For Dummies" post in the Knowledge Base. A lot of what I talk about can be helpful in dealing with any guitar that you don't quite know what to do with.

As much as I love the Legacy and the LS, a lot of times if I can only take ONE guitar, it's a Comanche or S-500. They might not be as perfect for the things I do, but their power and versatility make them very formidable when I might not know what music I might have to cover. I love all of these guitars, and I love having all these voices to choose from.

I hope that helps.

Bill

[jwebsmall]

Thanks Bill!

It surely does help! And I'm sure that visitors to the forum who have yet to purchase their first G&L
will find this immensely helpful too!

Does either of your S-500 have a maple fingerboard? If yes can it get closer to the vintage strat
tones?

Which (1 or 2) guitar(s) would you take to a recording studio? (if you could only take 1 or 2)?
Is the S-500 almost as quiet as the Comanche?

Which of these guitars are best for getting a tele twang? My guess is the S-500 on the bridge pu
or the bridge and neck pu's with the maple fingerboard.

You probably have alder and ash bodies. Do you prefer the sound of one wood to the other?

Do you have a website with your music?

[zapcosongs]

Thanks Bill. I remember seeing Graham Nash in person playing with the Hollies.
I saw Crosby, Stills and Nash at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia Maryland
back in 1970? Great show!

Ha! I saw Crosby/Nash at Merriweather back in 1977 or so. When they did "Chicago" - well, that did it for me..... - ed

[Boogie Bill]

Does either of your S-500 have a maple fingerboard? If yes can it get closer to the vintage strat tones?

Which (1 or 2) guitar(s) would you take to a recording studio? (if you could only take 1 or 2)? Is the S-500 almost as quiet as the Comanche?

Which of these guitars are best for getting a tele twang? My guess is the S-500 on the bridge pu or the bridge and neck pu's with the maple fingerboard.

You probably have alder and ash bodies. Do you prefer the sound of one wood to the other?

Do you have a website with your music?

Yes, one of my two S-500s has a maple neck. When you say vintage Strat tones, are you talking about a '57 Maple neck, or a 1960 RW neck, or ? I don't equate an S-500 with vintage strat tones. The pickups have a very different tone. The MFDs have a very wide range, almost hi-fi tone.--and they have very high output. They have a bit of a peak around 2Khz by my ear, that makes for a very aggressive tone. For me the difference between maple and RW fingerboards is insignificant. If you want vintage, go Legacy.

Because of the high output, the S-500's MFDs can seem quieter than standard single coils, but--they are still single coils and they will hum. The Z-coils are humbucking, so they are dead quiet. The recording question is difficult. I'm going to take the guitar that I need fit the song. Noise isn't usually an issue in a studio as the electric circuits in the building are top notch. With a SC guitar, I'll position myself to the amp so that my guitar is in the null spot, keeping it as noise-free as possible. Most recording guys will have a cartage company bring thier guitars to the studio and might have 20 different guitars to choose from. And some guys track on many amps--I think I read that SRV tracked on 20 to 30 different amps. The studio is the place to take all your toys, and then think outside the box. But I would certainly take a Legacy, and probably take an ES-335 or Les Paul; and an acoustic.

If I'm going to try for tele-twang, I'll use a Legacy. Legacy bridge doesn't really sound like a tele bridge pickup, though. And my ASAT Classic SH didn't sound like a tele, either. If I really, really need a tele for a couple of songs, I'll go to GC and buy a Fender Road Worn tele or a Squire Classic Vibe tele. Terrific bang for the buck.

My band does ONE song where I use a Legacy and on that particular song, and that song only, I prefer to use an alder Legacy. It has a more acoustic, resonant tone quality that fits that song better than an ash body. I can use the PTB controls and it will almost sound like an acoustic guitar. Other than that, it doesn't matter that much to me.

No music on a web-site, sorry.

Bill

[jwebsmall]

Thanks again Bill - this helps even more.

I have an Eric Johnson maple neck strat and it has the '57 sparkle like nobody's business.
The only thing that sounds close to this is the real deal or the Nash '57 strat clone which
I think might might actually sound better. But the are all really close so I'm set.

My USA Legacy has a rosewood fingerboard and is slightly warmer with more beef but has
a hint of that '57 sparkle. When I need something more substantial I use the Legacy.
When I want something more melodically sweet but fanciful I use the EJ strat.

Since I live in a small apartment with paper thin walls I don't have any amps anymore.
I sold my last amp, a Fender Hot Rod Deville 4 x 10. It was getting too heavy to carry
up 4 flights of steps here at the apartment anyway. I've only been playing out these
days at acoustic open mic nights to try new material. I leave my Gibson J-45 at home and
take my Seagull S6 ($400) guitar to open mics.

I am really impressed by my Tribute Invader XL and the G&L pickups. It's does the
long scale humbucking sound just fine for recordings.