played some g&l's

[louis cyfer]

went to the closest dealer, played a 30th anniversary s500 and a tribute carved top asat special deluxe. well, the s500 was the first g&l that is almost unplayable brand new. the fret sprout was so bad i was afraid of cutting my hand. the action and relief were really bad as well. considering the g&l factory is only less than 20 miles away, shipping should not make this big of a difference. the fret dressing of the plek was good though. the tribute asat was flawless on the other hand. no comanche, sc2, z3 or anything similar in stock. oh, and i picked up a tribute rampage that was unplayable as well. not almost, but totally. and the humidity is not bad right now and a humidifier was also going in the store. played a blueridge acoustic that was nice sounding , but the top was dry and the action too low as a result, and played a northwood 00 acoustic that was perfection. i was also told by the owner that g&l is not taking orders right now, and the orders he placed with them have been taking over 6 months and they haven't even started. he also tried to flip my to a prs, of course i hate prs, didn't work.

[Miles Smiles]

I can't understand those guys. If I was a dealer, I would fix that instruments having fret sprout and bent necks. If they would come this way out of the box, I'd send them back.

I recently took a look at google maps. Entered "Fender Avenue, Fullerton, CA", zoomed in at max and found a relative small building, titled with "G&L Musical Instruments". Is that really all?

But business seems to be good for G&L, if the they are at least 6 month behind.

[louis cyfer]

I can't understand those guys. If I was a dealer, I would fix that instruments having fret sprout and bent necks. If they would come this way out of the box, I'd send them back.

I recently took a look at google maps. Entered "Fender Avenue, Fullerton, CA", zoomed in at max and found a relative small building, titled with "G&L Musical Instruments". Is that really all?

But business seems to be good for G&L, if the they are at least 6 month behind.

it is that small. just a few units in an office building.

[jakkanen]

went to the closest dealer, played a 30th anniversary s500 and a tribute carved top asat special deluxe. well, the s500 was the first g&l that is almost unplayable brand new. the fret sprout was so bad i was afraid of cutting my hand. the action and relief were really bad as well. considering the g&l factory is only less than 20 miles away, shipping should not make this big of a difference. the fret dressing of the plek was good though. the tribute asat was flawless on the other hand.

I checked out my only local G&L dealer a couple weeks ago. They had five or six G&L's hanging on the wall, one was a US Legacy and the rest were Tributes. I tried a Tribute ASAT Special, Tribute Comanche, and the US Legacy. I really like both Tributes, especially the Comanche (I might have to get one of those). The Legacey was otherwise set up fine, but the fret ends were sticking way out and pretty rough. But what can you do, I don't want to be the guy who walks in the door and says "Hi, I'm your new customer, your guitar sucks".

As much as I want to believe in the quality of new US-made G&L instruments, what I've seen so far isn't convincing. Last month I tried to buy one of the Korina collection models but when I got the instrument, it had enough problems that I had to send it back. Last week I received a different unit of the same model from a different dealer, and this time the volume pot doesn't work. At this point if I look at another brand new US made G&L guitar and see no issues with it, I will actually be surprised.

-Jukka

[meowmix]

Are we not to assume any guitar "out of the box" needs a setup?

The S500 I received back in Nov, had the strings at varying heights. Not anywhere close to a 12" radius which made it difficult to play. Brought it to a luther, and during his work he noticed some frets were not level. I should have asked how he could tell. The luther was only using his eye, I don't know if he is right. Since the setup, I don't have a problem, so maybe his eyes are bad. It would seem strange to have a PLEK machine not to do it's job.

[astutzmann]

I bought a new heritage which was also plek'd. My luthier looked at it, said the frets high up the board were in need of a fret dress.

I asked him how this can be. He said that there is no way a machine can prepare a fret like he can..........................

[Miles Smiles]

He said that there is no way a machine can prepare a fret like he can..........................

What was the issue? Did you let him do it?

[astutzmann]

yes, it seems the frets had a wow in them. He did a fret dress and they are terrific.

So, I am really convinced that every guitar I get, will require at least a good setup, perhaps a fret dress and perhaps a new nut,

[louis cyfer]

Are we not to assume any guitar "out of the box" needs a setup?

The S500 I received back in Nov, had the strings at varying heights. Not anywhere close to a 12" radius which made it difficult to play. Brought it to a luther, and during his work he noticed some frets were not level. I should have asked how he could tell. The luther was only using his eye, I don't know if he is right. Since the setup, I don't have a problem, so maybe his eyes are bad. It would seem strange to have a PLEK machine not to do it's job.

i thought the idea of the plek was to be able to play a guitar out of the box.

[Miles Smiles]

i thought the idea of the plek was to be able to play a guitar out of the box.

Maybe it's just as good as the user managing the machine.

[suave eddie]

All these stories are quite disturbing. I wonder if G&L is having some recent quality control issues. The above described issues seem to be the exception rather than the rule.

Are we not to assume any guitar "out of the box" needs a setup?

I believe G&L strives to have their guitars ready to play "out of the box". Other than the individuals who prefer higher or lower action than what G&L uses as their standard, the setup should be perfect--my special order last year certainly was.

There have been several stories here of guitars that had the neck shift position in the pocket during shipment, but the above described problems do not appear to be related to that.

I have a feeling that G&L management would like to hear these stories so they can rectify whatever problems are occurring.

[Craig]

went to the closest dealer, played a 30th anniversary s500 and a tribute carved top asat special deluxe. well, the s500 was the first g&l that is almost unplayable brand new. the fret sprout was so bad i was afraid of cutting my hand. the action and relief were really bad as well. considering the g&l factory is only less than 20 miles away, shipping should not make this big of a difference. the fret dressing of the plek was good though. the tribute asat was flawless on the other hand. no comanche, sc2, z3 or anything similar in stock. oh, and i picked up a tribute rampage that was unplayable as well. not almost, but totally. and the humidity is not bad right now and a humidifier was also going in the store. played a blueridge acoustic that was nice sounding , but the top was dry and the action too low as a result, and played a northwood 00 acoustic that was perfection. i was also told by the owner that g&l is not taking orders right now, and the orders he placed with them have been taking over 6 months and they haven't even started. he also tried to flip my to a prs, of course i hate prs, didn't work.

I wonder how long they had these instruments on display? What did the dealer say about them when you pointed
out these issues? I'm quite sure the S-500 did not leave the factory in that condition. Also, fret sprout can happen
to any guitar with temperature/humidity changes and can easily be taken care of, along with a setup, by the dealer's
guitar tech. It doesn't sound like their humidifier was doing it's job, since you noted one of their acoustics had a top
that was dry.

Regarding the Tribute Rampage, what specifically was wrong with it for you to deem it "unplayable"?

[louis cyfer]

went to the closest dealer, played a 30th anniversary s500 and a tribute carved top asat special deluxe. well, the s500 was the first g&l that is almost unplayable brand new. the fret sprout was so bad i was afraid of cutting my hand. the action and relief were really bad as well. considering the g&l factory is only less than 20 miles away, shipping should not make this big of a difference. the fret dressing of the plek was good though. the tribute asat was flawless on the other hand. no comanche, sc2, z3 or anything similar in stock. oh, and i picked up a tribute rampage that was unplayable as well. not almost, but totally. and the humidity is not bad right now and a humidifier was also going in the store. played a blueridge acoustic that was nice sounding , but the top was dry and the action too low as a result, and played a northwood 00 acoustic that was perfection. i was also told by the owner that g&l is not taking orders right now, and the orders he placed with them have been taking over 6 months and they haven't even started. he also tried to flip my to a prs, of course i hate prs, didn't work.

I wonder how long they had these instruments on display? What did the dealer say about them when you pointed
out these issues? I'm quite sure the S-500 did not leave the factory in that condition. Also, fret sprout can happen
to any guitar with temperature/humidity changes and can easily be taken care of, along with a setup, by the dealer's
guitar tech. It doesn't sound like their humidifier was doing it's job, since you noted one of their acoustics had a top
that was dry.

Regarding the Tribute Rampage, what specifically was wrong with it for you to deem it "unplayable"?

the humidity has been in the 40-50% range even without a humidifier. most of the acoustics were perfect, only a few had the top dry. i can't figure out why. i know the fret sprout can happen, and the dealer should take care of it, i am sure it did not leave the factory that way. the rampage tribute was a new arrival, and while the action was not too low, the fretting out was really bad. not even on bent notes. i didn't examine it much further, put it back on the wall. i have never played new in the store g&l's before. the ones i have played were all owned by someone or for sale by a private party, and a few used ones at gc. all were very good at least. the tribute carved top asat was perfect as was the asat classic usa Butterscotch Blonde. the owner did say he'll add another humidifier to the store, when i pointed out that some of the guitars suffered from dryness.

when i told him that i would really like an asat special deluxe with a dfs trem, he said the g&l factory is not taking orders right now, he does not know why, and the orders he has with them have taken over 6 months and they are not even started. even stranger was to me that he tried to sell me a santana prs. seemed like a nice guy, invited me to the invitational acoustic pro jam they have there every month after he heard me playing the northwood acoustic. there are some very high end guitars in there as well, 8k+.
i would expect some set up issues with the tributes, but a small time music store should set up every guitar before they put them out, the us ones should be good to go, but the dealer has to make sure they keep them in tip top shape.

craig, i want you to know that my rant is really targeted towards the dealer, i am disappointed that all the g&l were not representing the company as well as they should have. this was my first experience with g&l's at a dealer, the dealer i used to go to, who had lots of g&l's but is no longer, i never picked up a g&l i didn't like the look of the headstock. i can only kick myself for that.

i have a question regarding the trem. the dealer brought out the trem arm after i requested it and he made sure that i really really wanted to use it. on both the s500 and the red legacy the bridge plate was not quite parallel with the body but leaning back and the trem arm was still very low to the body. when the trem gets set up properly and the plate is parallel to the body, the arm will be even closer to the body. is this normal? my hand is pretty big, and when holding the arm, i hit the strings when barely pushing on the trem. also the trem arm is pretty beefy, so bending it to a different angle would not be as easy as with the fender arms.

[Elwood]

i have a question regarding the trem. the dealer brought out the trem arm after i requested it and he made sure that i really really wanted to use it. on both the s500 and the red legacy the bridge plate was not quite parallel with the body but leaning back and the trem arm was still very low to the body. when the trem gets set up properly and the plate is parallel to the body, the arm will be even closer to the body. is this normal? my hand is pretty big, and when holding the arm, i hit the strings when barely pushing on the trem. also the trem arm is pretty beefy, so bending it to a different angle would not be as easy as with the fender arms.

Good question,
Having a bar with more of an up-angle would feel better and the leverage through
the forearm is increased when it's not so close to the deck.
I would buy half a dozen !!

[timewave]

Wow I was at the local music store and they had a tribute legacy(used) on the wall, and since I just got my U.S.Comanche I thought I would try something new and kinda ask my wife before I bought it so I did'nt even play it. Maybe I shoud'nt be so excited now.Oh I didn't ask my wife. Im such a bad boy,will go and play it tomorrow and if it has no issues will have G+L #2.Thanks Louis for the heads up on what to look for!

[smurph1]

I bought a new heritage which was also plek'd. My luthier looked at it, said the frets high up the board were in need of a fret dress.

I asked him how this can be. He said that there is no way a machine can prepare a fret like he can..........................

i have a Heritage 535 that I dearly love..Had the same problem on the upper frets..Had them dressed, and now it plays like buttah!!

[smurph1]

I bought a new heritage which was also plek'd. My luthier looked at it, said the frets high up the board were in need of a fret dress.

I asked him how this can be. He said that there is no way a machine can prepare a fret like he can..........................

i have a Heritage 535 that I dearly love..Had the same problem on the upper frets..Had them dressed, and now it plays like buttah!!

That being said my ASAT Classic plays great straight from the factory..Go Figure!!

[Craig]

i was also told by the owner that g&l is not taking orders right now, and the orders he placed with them have been taking over 6 months and they haven't even started.

Not true, see this post: http://guitarsbyleo.com/FORUM/viewtopic ... 044#p39044

Hope this helps.

[louis cyfer]

i was also told by the owner that g&l is not taking orders right now, and the orders he placed with them have been taking over 6 months and they haven't even started.

Not true, see this post: http://guitarsbyleo.com/FORUM/viewtopic ... 044#p39044

Hope this helps.

thank you. i will talk to the dealer. i was actually talking to him about wanting to order a guitar and he was really trying to discourage me from it, giving me those numbers.

[KenS]

Louis - that's depressing to hear. When I had my previous stable of G&L's, I never had a problem, but the stories of fret problems were pretty common. I agree that the dealer should take care of it before putting it on the floor - but the sad truth is that G&L has had a rep in some circles for lax QC. I'm not saying that it's justified, but I do think that dealers should be sensitive to this perception and fan the flames by ignoring fret problems on displayed guitars.

I also agree that every new guitar needs a setup - but I don't think that remediating fret sprout should be considered part of a standard setup.

Ken