My question would be WHY do G&L's all have a Bathtub Route?

[Hendrix58]

My question would be WHY do G&L's all have a Bathtub Route? Does this effect the guitar's Tone the way everyone says it does?
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My CS Fender Hendrix 69' Reverse NOS (paid $2499 plus shipping) has Single Coil Routing because it is a single coil guitar...It's a Stratocaster. When I received the Guitar new in the Case, I inspected it and found issues I shouldn't have found on any guitar. Moving right along... I just bought a new Legacy for [actual price deleted by Admin] at Musician's Friends...(20% off Coupon) Regularly priced at [actual priced deleted by Admin] ... I could have bought a Fender at 20% off as well. Lately it seems getting a well made Fender even from the custom shop is a real crapshoot! I don't say this lightly! I think I see real value in a G&L Guitar. Thing I don't understand is why the "Guitars by Leo" haven't done better than they have, especially with the attention to detail and quality G&L gives to each and everyone of its guitars (well, almost anyway) I've played most of my life and I'm a Fender Man at heart...and I say this...I might just become a G&L Man...
Furthermore; Upon listening to Demos on You Tube it was obvious to me that my ears were picking up a woodier tone from the G&L's rather than the Strats...I sure hope I don't return this G&L (Blond-Premier Paint...Tinted Maple Neck Model) I hope the Alnico V Pup's are good too! If I decide to keep the guitar for it's build quality, feel, and tone...I can always install some Lollars or Fralins... Name's Doc "Glad to be here"

[Elwood]

My question would be WHY do G&L's all have a Bathtub Route? Does this effect the guitar's Tone the way everyone says it does?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________ Thing I don't understand is why the "Guitars by Leo" haven't done better than they have, especially with the attention to detail and quality G&L gives to each and everyone of its guitars (well, almost anyway) I've played most of my life and I'm a Fender Man at heart...and I say this...I might just become a G&L Man...
Furthermore; Upon listening to Demos on You Tube it was obvious to me that my ears were picking up a woodier tone from the G&L's rather than the Strats...I sure hope I don't return this G&L (Blond-Premier Paint...Tinted Maple Neck Model) I hope the Alnico V Pup's are good too! If I decide to keep the guitar for it's build quality, feel, and tone...I can always install some Lollars or Fralins... Name's Doc "Glad to be here"

Howdy Doc,
well...Leo and company advertised G&L's as "The Real Ones" ...they should know ...LOL


Love to see some pics when you can.
My view is , the more wood the better ...and a nice tight pickup cavity.

There's a rule on the board forbidding posting prices of new G&Ls ( used G&Ls are fine)just to keep things fair for competing
dealers.

Most of us can't stop at just one , welcome aboard !
elwood

[louis cyfer]

My question would be WHY do G&L's all have a Bathtub Route? Does this effect the guitar's Tone the way everyone says it does?
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

My CS Fender Hendrix 69' Reverse NOS (paid $2499 plus shipping) has Single Coil Routing because it is a single coil guitar...It's a Stratocaster. When I received the Guitar new in the Case, I inspected it and found issues I shouldn't have found on any guitar. Moving right along... I just bought a new Legacy for [actual price deleted by Admin] at Musician's Friends...(20% off Coupon) Regularly priced at [actual price deleted by Admin]... I could have bought a Fender at 20% off as well. Lately it seems getting a well made Fender even from the custom shop is a real crapshoot! I don't say this lightly! I think I see real value in a G&L Guitar. Thing I don't understand is why the "Guitars by Leo" haven't done better than they have, especially with the attention to detail and quality G&L gives to each and everyone of its guitars (well, almost anyway) I've played most of my life and I'm a Fender Man at heart...and I say this...I might just become a G&L Man...
Furthermore; Upon listening to Demos on You Tube it was obvious to me that my ears were picking up a woodier tone from the G&L's rather than the Strats...I sure hope I don't return this G&L (Blond-Premier Paint...Tinted Maple Neck Model) I hope the Alnico V Pup's are good too! If I decide to keep the guitar for it's build quality, feel, and tone...I can always install some Lollars or Fralins... Name's Doc "Glad to be here"

i am not sure what woody tone means. i doubt it has to do with the wood though. especially the cavity size. a cs guitar for 2500? that's a pretty low price. most are much more. that sound like a signature model price. i agree that a legacy is better built. fender has lots of qc issues.

[Elwood]

i doubt it has to do with the wood though. especially the cavity size.

I guess that was a veiled reference to the tight tolerances my leo era G&Ls have (** like this SC-3)
...I'll try to stay in key

**

[bloodied_fingers]

My question would be WHY do G&L's all have a Bathtub Route? Does this effect the guitar's Tone the way everyone says it does?

Magnets and wood don't interact.

[louis cyfer]

My question would be WHY do G&L's all have a Bathtub Route? Does this effect the guitar's Tone the way everyone says it does?

Magnets and wood don't interact.

wood and strings do however. if you don't think the wood makes a difference, try one of those clear plexi guitars, see how the tone is. i can tell you it's horrible.

[bloodied_fingers]

My question would be WHY do G&L's all have a Bathtub Route? Does this effect the guitar's Tone the way everyone says it does?

Magnets and wood don't interact.

wood and strings do however. if you don't think the wood makes a difference, try one of those clear plexi guitars, see how the tone is. i can tell you it's horrible.

What is the difference, in mass, between a bathtub route and a s-s-s routed guitar?

The question is not, "does wood make a difference?" but "does this XX grams of wood make a difference?"

[louis cyfer]

My question would be WHY do G&L's all have a Bathtub Route? Does this effect the guitar's Tone the way everyone says it does?

Magnets and wood don't interact.

wood and strings do however. if you don't think the wood makes a difference, try one of those clear plexi guitars, see how the tone is. i can tell you it's horrible.

What is the difference, in mass, between a bathtub route and a s-s-s routed guitar?

The question is not, "does wood make a difference?" but "does this XX grams of wood make a difference?"

any changes to the guitar make a difference. the question is: is the change good, or even noticeable?

[bloodied_fingers]

any changes to the guitar make a difference. the question is: is the change good, or even noticeable?

pedantic argument is pedantic.

[Elwood]

and then there's the type of guard, metal can attenuate the highs, cheap thin plastic sounds hollow and thin.
Since with a bathtub route the pickups are anchored only by the screws to the guard.
Any vibration there will be put into the equation . When and where it's noticed, as louis said, is the important question.
If your used to a body mounted pickup, that'd increase the chances of noticing a bathtub route by it's sound (unplugged and plugged in),
and the balance might feel different. We are ( or can be ) pretty sensitive creatures.
everything counts in small amounts..or something like that ,
well, except fingers...they count a whole lot ! ...and I guess strings...and pickups..and picks..a n d...

elwood

[supereiv]

One thing that I noticed is that my S500 deluxe (which doesn't have pickguard, and no bathtub obviously) is as loud as my asat semi hollow w/bathtub when played unplugged. Does that mean anything ? Definitely not
I understand that the bathtub thing may be sort of unattractive to someone, but as long as the guitar sounds good, it shouldn't be that big of a problem IMO. And, the bathtub allows lots of different pickups to fit in, even the taller of them (the blades of the special, and the S500 MFD are especially tall).

My 2 cents.

[Craig]

My question would be WHY do G&L's all have a Bathtub Route? Does this effect the guitar's Tone the way everyone says it does?

Not all G&L's have the bathtub route. See these posts: Which G&L guitar models have the body with a bathtub route? and Is Bathtub (aka swimming pool) routing a "bad thing"?.

Hope this helps.

[helle-man]

A lot of guys look at the bathtub route as a bad thing sonically. I disagree.

I think that it gives the guitar a kind of chambered-body vibe. It's neither good nor bad, just different.

Some people think the Stratocaster was a brilliant design because of the cavity for the tremolo. And the tremolo springs act as a weird kind of sonic reverb.

To each his own. I like bathtub routes because they give the player room down there to experiment with different pickups without extra routing.

My 2¢
Will