Lunch Report, Thursday, May 6, 2010

[Muleya]

Okay, so I totally missed the fact that yesterday was Cinco de Mayo...despite the fact that I remember hearing my co-workers talking about it. Thanks for pointing that out, Yowhatshakin!

Today will be a busy day...it's our annual meeting and while I've not been terribly involved in getting ready for it, it will dominate my afternoon and early evening. But it should be fun, too.

Lunch today will be homemade tacos. I'm a little disappointed with my ground beef filling...I just haven't quite figured out how to guage the picante factor. I had picked up a Jalapeno and Anaheim pepper...the Jalapeno for heat/flavor and the Anaheim for flavor, as they are generally mild in my experience. Well, this Anaheim had some surprising kick to it and I was afraid the wife would complain if it was too picante, so I left the Jalapeno out. In the end, I could hardly sense any picante at all!

Today's question: If you live with others (spouse, kids, parents, significant other, roommate, other family), how supportive are they of your electric guitar playing?

My wife basically puts up with it. We recently renovated part of our basement and I was able to put in a room with some sound dampening measures. It’s by no means soundproof, but it does a pretty good job of reducing what emanates from the room…that has definitely helped our marriage (she might say “saved”! ) I don’t play all that loud, but the sound just seems to carry. My daughters are 4 and 7, and they don’t seem to mind too much, but we’ll see how they feel when they are teens!

G&L Content: It looks to me like the shapes of the first G&Ls were not quite like they are today. The Rampage shape seems to date back to the beginning, but that's about it. But the rest of the body shapes seem to be the same body shapes that Leo designed for Fender...certainly the Legacy, ASAT and Invader and some of the basses. I'm curious as to the reason why...were there legal reasons that kept him from using those shapes in the early days that either lapsed or were otherwise resolved at a later point? Does anyone know?

[Brock]

Boise Cinco de Mayo was moved to Doce de Mayo:
http://www.downtownboise.org/m_events/c ... o_2010.cfm

Today's question: If you live with others (spouse, kids, parents, significant other, roommate, other family), how supportive are they of your electric guitar playing?:

It has improved over the years. The kids have helped keep playing down a lot by wanting to hit the strings. I love that they get to interact, but the interference drives me crazy sometimes.

G&L Content: It looks to me like the shapes of the first G&Ls were not quite like they are today.

Looking at G&L today, the casual observer would think G&L is a Fender copy shop. Especially towards the beginning of G&L, this is hardly the case. I can't think of any Fender sized pickups early on, for example. The models were all MFD pickup design loaded, with original bridge designs. As time went on, some Kahler bridges and Schaller humbuckers found their way into parts of the lineup, but it was still largely MFDs with new development on pickups, bridges, and instruments continuing. After Leo Fender passed away, the Legacy model came to be, and original models such as the Lynx Bass, L-1000, and El Toro (and that's just the some of the discontinuations from the bass line alone) went away.

Personally, I have 3 g&L basses and all are discontinued models.

[jazzrat]

Today's question: If you live with others (spouse, kids, parents, significant other, roommate, other family), how supportive are they of your electric guitar playing?

My guitar playing/buying/selling/trading has been a bone of contention for many years. In my wife's defense...I am obsesive and did all things guitar to excess
just like fly fishing, photography, art, running, and whatever hobby of the day, guitar and music was overdone. In the pst she has been the one that had to
make the family budget work with my excesses. Now it's pretty much one in---one out.
These days she is very tolerant and because of that I am very sensitive to how much time and money I devote to music.
My son thinks my playing is pretty cool. The only downside is that he feels it is 'my thing' and therefore is not interested as he looks for 'his thing'.

G&L Content: It looks to me like the shapes of the first G&Ls were not quite like they are today. The Rampage shape seems to date back to the beginning, but that's about it. But the rest of the body shapes seem to be the same body shapes that Leo designed for Fender...certainly the Legacy, ASAT and Invader and some of the basses. I'm curious as to the reason why...were there legal reasons that kept him from using those shapes in the early days that either lapsed or were otherwise resolved at a later point? Does anyone know?

Pure supposition on my part. I'm guessing that when G&L started Leo was fresh from Music Man guitars which were aslo a Fenderish shape for the most part.
Maybe he was looking for a definate new look for the new company. At some point marketing forces required a return to mainstream accepted designs.
Just a guess....looking forward to the experts chiming in.

[shawn500]

My wife has always been pretty tolerant with my music/collecting/hoarding.
I have amassed a pretty good collection over the years, but most of the equipment was bought with money from other equipment I've sold. I made a few trades here and there, and a few I bought when we had a bit of extra "mad money".

Since I'm now in a band and it's a "job" not a hobby, she's a bit more receptive to me spending money. I'm actually making some pretty good bank these days with the band, so that definately helps my case when I want to spend money.

Last week she suprised me with a TC Helicon Voice Create. Basically a multi effects pedal for voice.

[MrRoundel]

Okay, so I totally missed the fact that yesterday was Cinco de Mayo...

I sort of missed it too, as I had made arrangements to go play acoustic guitars with a buddy, and didn't want to do any early celebrating. I had my celebratory cerveza when I got home.

Today's question: If you live with others (spouse, kids, parents, significant other, roommate, other family), how supportive are they of your electric guitar playing?

No longer applicable since divorce. Although, she never gave me a lot of grief about my playing.

Regarding your kids' perspective: I could be wrong about this, but I think that today's kids can't hear anything that has any treble in it. Once a sound gets above a dull thump, it's like a dog whistle; Only old dogs can hear it.

G&L Content: It looks to me like the shapes of the first G&Ls were not quite like they are today. The Rampage shape seems to date back to the beginning, but that's about it. But the rest of the body shapes seem to be the same body shapes that Leo designed for Fender...certainly the Legacy, ASAT and Invader and some of the basses. I'm curious as to the reason why...were there legal reasons that kept him from using those shapes in the early days that either lapsed or were otherwise resolved at a later point? Does anyone know?

I've heard that it all had to do with what the market feedback was at the time. Everyone wanted Fender from Fender, without going to Fender. To me, the original strat-styled bodies more closely resembled a grand auditorium acoustic outline, whereas the Fender Strat, and recent G&L strat-styles, look more like a dreadnought acoustics. Personally, I find the grand auditorium lines a bit more visually pleasing. And, with an electric, you're not getting sound changes based on solid bodies the way you do on an acoustic. So, I'd like to see at least one of the strat-ish style G&L's have the old body style, as it adds a unique outline to go along with unique pickups, etc. JMHO

[sirmyghin]

The wife:


very supportive of my playing as long as I don't spend when we are hurting it is all good. She is even helpful at times, she in fact bought me my c66 and Lb75 . As long as I don't buy needless things it is all good. It has to be used is the only condition.


Shape of G&L's:

Don't really know, but for me I enjoy the ability to get classic shapes in superior quality. Bout says it all.

[bassman]

My wife and kids have tolerated my bassplaying for our entire relationship. I met my wife by way of being in a band , so when they complain, I have resorted to saying, "you wouldn't be here if it wasn't for my playing bass."LOL

Original G&L shapes:

I think Leo wanted to leave Fender completely behind as he started G&L and everything was different. Diffferent pickups ,bridges and body shapes were used in pre-BBE G&L but I believe market forces or customer demand wanted more "traditional designs" from Leo Fender's company. This supposedly was very annoying to Leo but the demand needed to be met. Otherwise, the company would be out of business today.

There was also a practical side to going with the more traditional body shapes.
Standard sized cases will now hold the guitars and basses. A major pain in the ass of owning a F-100 or an early S-500 is if you have to replace the case. A strat case won't work.
Recent legal action has rendered the Original Fender body shapes to be generic, so I suppose there is no longer any danger of G&L and others being hit with any lawsuit for using them. That is the practical side of using the same shapes as Fender. Now the nostalgic fans of G&L see this strategy differently.

[MrRoundel]

Way to go, Muleya. You are far more observant than I. Even after reading this L.R. last week, in which you mention the Rampage, I didn't make the connection. So today I'm checking out the Ebay offerings and up comes a Rampage. I say to myself, "Wow, that looks like the old body style". So, yes, it does look like G&L is using the old body style, but only for the Rampage. However, me playing a Rampage is sort of incongruous, as I use the neck PU almost exclusively for my style of playing. That's why I really haven't paid too much attention to the Rampage. So, I stand somewhat corrected by the facts. Thanks for pointing them out, even though I somehow missed it. Or perhaps I made subconscious note?
Nice job on the L.R.'s last week.

[Muleya]

Bassman...thanks for the info. From an artistic point of view, I can understand Leo's annoyance at people wanting the classic body shapes...artists want to be free to keep on creating new things. But at the same time, it's also a testimony to how well he nailed the design the first time! And I'm a traditionalist when it comes to guitar design...if not for the Legacy being an updated/improved design of the Stratocaster, I'm not sure I would have ever really discovered G&L...and that would have been a shame!!

MrRoundel...until recently I had assumed G&L started out with the Legacy and ASAT. Only recently on this forum did I realize the Legacy only came about after Leo's death. I also learned some of this digging around in the image archive.