Lunch Report, Tuesday March 9, 2010

[yowhatsshakin]

Hi gang,

What's for lunch
Heck if I know. Right now, I'm more thinking what's for breakfast! But it is back-to-work day. So my best guess is a quick visit to the rather unimaginative Subway shop on 2nd. A veggie with pepperjack on wheat. Not too bad ...

Thanks for all of your participation in yesterday LR. At the time of writing, 21 people voted. Membership grew by 7 to 161, so we had a participation rate so far of about 12.5%! Not bad. AcidTechGreen seems to be most popular. But according to numbers that Craig provided, about 65% of our membership are using prosilver! And you can still vote.
Tech tip of the day
Be careful when you use different font colors. Now we have a wider variety of styles, some colors are ill-advised. For instance, choosing a yellow font may be great when you use a style with a dark background like AcidTechGreen or proDark, but is hard to read for those of us using a white background (which is still the vast majority). If you find yourself in such a situation, highlight the sentence or post (like you want to make a copy). Usually this will provide enough contrast.

But lets quit the 'Greek' as Mr. Roundel called it and return to something we all love and are passionate about: geetars!

Question of the day:
Which of the G&L (patented) technologies no longer in use do you miss the most? And why? See the poll above, where I threw in the maple bodies used in early models for good form.

As far as versus is concerned, I do not really have an opinion since I never used the tilt mechanism on any of my 3-bolts. Those of you that prefer the 3-bolt, is that because of the era these guitars come from or does it really have other benefits? What are the 4-bolters missing out on?

If I had to pick (and yes, I voted), it would be the Bi-Cut neck. It may be claimed that the currently used technology is not inferior, but the kerfuffle about the warranty on a Bird's Eye maple neck makes me think otherwise. And Bird's Eye Maple is definitely my favorite, especially combined with a gun-oil tinted neck. Here are a couple of examples from my collection:

1991 Commemorative:

1999 ASAT Classic:

2000 20th Anniversary:

2001 George Fullerton:

2004 ASAT Bluesboy SH (nice showing the Bi-Cut feature):


I don't have a guitar with a aluminum crinkle guard (yet) so no opinion there either. I love the maple in my Broadcaster and it would have been great if the reissue SC-2 would have had maple again. But then again, maybe the Broadcaster is just a fabulous sounding guitar no matter what.

See you all tomorrow,

[shawn500]

Aluminum guard for me!
I hope to have one made for my S500 at some point.
Never played a maple bodies G&L, but I understand a maple bodied ASAT is a joy to play.

Great topic!
G&L brought the old style bodies back, so you never know what might make a reappearence.

[MrRoundel]

The Parthenon's a nice place to visit....

I like the 3-bolt neck configuration, as I have used it on all of my G&L's that have them, in order to adjust the neck angle. It's just nice to have that extra feature to dial in the action in, as close to spec-perfection as possible, without having to use shims. Since I don't know of anyone who has had problems with the 3-bolt being less stable than the 4-bolt, I don't see any reason why G&L wouldn't continue with them, aside from cost that is. The successful 3-bolt design also served to separate G&L from other manufacturers who use 4-bolt. I also think that the shield shape looks a bit cooler.

I find that MFD's really do have a little extra magic when mated with a maple body. I'm not sure about the sustainability of maple supplies, as the tree itself may take a long time to reach the usable point/size for bodies. I believe Griff wrote about different types of maple in his neck of the woods not too long ago. I'm not sure if he touched on sustainability.

Black hardware is my favorite for reasons of aesthetics. I do understand that there are practical reasons for using metal pick-guards.

While I don't believe you mentioned "swimming pool routing" versus individual pickup routing, it does seem to me that for "sustainability of tone" the individual routing would be best. Admittedly, this is probably negligible. I certainly will not try to argue that it would be more convenient for pickup swapping.



BTW: My suggestion may have been a mistake, as you had specified that it had to be a G&L patent. Dang, I can confuse issues, can't I. It's worthwhile to add to discussion but I'm certain that individual pup routes aren't a patent issue. Sorry.

[yowhatsshakin]

While I don't believe you mentioned "swimming pool routing" versus individual pickup routing, it does seem to me that for "sustainability of tone" the individual routing would be best. Admittedly, this is probably negligible. I certainly will not try to argue that it would be more convenient for pickup swapping.

An excellent suggestion So I added it to the poll. So I lost my previous results of 7 votes (2 for Bi-Cut, 3 for 3-bolt, 2 for aluminum plate if I remember correctly) Another lesson learned. You can edit a poll but will lose any interim results. Kinda makes sense, but still ...

So if you voted earlier, and read this, please vote again!

[Marty]

I miss a few things, but I have never liked the pool routing.
I can live with most everything else but that particular aspect has prevented me from buying some guitars.
Why? I don't know, I just don't like it.

[MrRoundel]

Hmm...the ASAT Classics don't have swimming pool routing, do they? I've never peaked under my pickguard on mine. I suppose if they did, it would be more like "hot tub routing", or "wading pool" routing", than "swimming pool routing".

[darwinohm]

Jos, Those are some beautiful necks. I am a fan of flamed and quilted maple and I also like maple fretboards but my reason may be different than most. More than half of my guitars have rosewood fretboards (Probably 25) and I check the neck relief on all of them several times a year or as needed. I have discovered that here in Minnesota (Dry winter air) that the rosewood fingerboard necks change considerably more than the maple fingerboard necks. My belief is that because the Maple fretboards are finished and totally sealed is the reason. Rosewood dries out and shrinks. That is why I believe it is important to keep the rosewood well oiled. I have never had a problem with delamination from using the lemon oil that I use. So that is my observation.
I like the swamp Ash bodies that G&L uses. The grain is much nicer that the ash Fenders that I have. I also have 4 bolt Fenders with the microtilt adjustment. The only time I have ever adjusted one is if I install a Bigsby on it. I have no opinion on the pickup routing as I have never had a pickguard of my G&Ls. I have just under 40 guitars and every morning I play some of them. I take one off the wall and after I play it, I tell my wife, Boy, that is a sweet guitar. I say that about every one of them. Having said that I usually do not plug them in except after I buy them just to hear them and when I record. I am a gigger on the Bass. Each one of them is an exceptional piece of art. Where can you buy pictures that are that beautiful stacked together on the wall??? Did I mention the investment angle. I really like the G&L guitars although all of mine are newer that 2001, so I can't comment on the early ones. I would like a flamed or quilted maple solid body, to match the neck, realizing that it would be heavy but she would be sharp hanging on the wall!!!! -- Darwin

[RickT]

I picked the aluminum pickguard. I had one on an Ash bodied ASAT that looked really cool and seemed to dampen the pickup noise. But, Thumbs can always build me one if I actually get around to ordering one for my Broadcaster. The maple body would be a great option to bring back for the ASAT and I think the SC2. Some of us like the brighter tone

RickT

[Woodfixer]

Tough question.. Let me see?
I like the bi-cut neck
I like the micro-tilt adjustment on neck
I like the alum crinkle guard

Since I couldn't pick all 3, I got confused, spent a whole day thinking about it, couldn't sleep from thinking too much, so I took my last choice. Alum/Blk guard

[bassman]

I like the three point neck attachment, aluminum guards and maple bodies.

I don't care for the bi-cut neck only because I don't think the trusss rods used in those necks are as durable as they need to be.

I have problems with two maybe three truss rods out of 13 G&Ls that I own and I think that is too many.

I would rather have a modern double acting rod or an old style Gibson style truss rod in my G&L basses. Those are the the most durable in my experience.

To be fair- I have no experience with the new CNC necks with separate fingerboards and presumably different truss rods.
I would expect that they are better than what was used in the bi-cut necks.