March 21

[sam]

It was 24 years ago today,March 21, 1991, that Leo Fender left this world but still reaching all of us through his amps and guitars.

Here's to Leo and G&L guitars for being the reason we all share this space on the WWW.

Where were you when Leo died and what G&L's did you have?
I was in Atlanta, GA still playing telecasters but haunting guitar shops waiting to get one. Fortunately that G&L guitar buying day came in 1992.

[blargfromouterspace]

Where were you when Leo died and what G&L's did you have?

I was at school, in the 4th grade - my guitar playing wasn't to start for another 5 years. My dad had an old Japanese Squier strat that would have been in the house, as well as an even older Tama (the drum brand!) 12 string acoustic. Those two instruments were the ones I picked my first notes on.

Any speculation as to what G&L might be planning for the 25th anniversary of Leo's passing next year?

[sam]

Well my math apparently isn't to good today, it is 24 years ago today,

Pardon my brain slip.

Saw the "edit" button, and corrected . Yes I am the poster child for computer illlituracee

[Elwood]

I thought you were just gearing up the enthusiasm ( sometimes it takes a year ).
...still a valid question !

I was washing dishes at a bakery ( putting my college experience to use ). It would be another ten years before I would
rediscover G&L.

Here's a collection of sigs from the factory folks at the time:

[sam]

Blarg - you had some good influence and lead to Leo's world.

Elwood - ya know I had a bit of wishful thinking in the header a lot can happen in a year, we will see. Cool sigs, thanks for posting.

[KenC]

Can't believe it's been 24 years already. I was sailing a ship in the Navy, and was in the early hours of what would be the three-day search-and-rescue off Baja California. It was a very gray, overcast morning where I was, and probably up in Southern California too. I remember getting the word that Leo Fender had just passed away. It must have been in the daily news summary that was read every morning over the loudspeaker system.

Ken

[yowhatsshakin]

Was working hard, or hardly working, on my PhD thesis. Had no money to buy gear and could only dream of stuff, mainly a genuine Gibson Les Paul because I was still convinced then I was an LP man. An American friend of mine had just moved to the Netherlands the month prior and parked his '88 Fender Strat at my house so I could play that one through my Lab Series L5 amp. G&L was something I might have read about in some Dutch music periodicals but I doubt it.

Oh how times have changed.




- Jos

[Case24]

24 years ago I was engaged to be married later that fall. Still married to the same wonderful woman. My only guitar was my father's hand-me-down Kay archtop from the 50's. It would be a few more years before my brother got me into playing the guitar more. I'd always been the keyboard and horn player in the family. I remember hearing of Leo's passing and knew the significance of his work but it would take a few more years to really appreciate it. Man, how time flies.

[Katefan]

I was enduring a 13 day technician training in Cedar Rapids Iowa for Rockwell/Collins Avionics.
Stayed at a the Longbranch Motel and was watching heaps of MTV to pass the time... heard the news on the telly.

I had quit playing music for a few years and only had a Warmoth copy of BC Rich Mockingbird which I had a consignment at a friend's shop in Bellevue.
A few months later I resumed playing & at the same time started hitting the Midway Swapmeet for music deals… first score was Peavey MACE combo for $150 with NOS GE's! Favored amp of Skynyrd Folk...

There was an independent music store down the the road from the Rockwell Service Center called Center Stage Music. They were a G&L Dealer and Don the owner had a few Commemoratives and was trying to sell me on them… I thought they were cool but I wasn't keen b/c they're weren't used

Leo's passing marked the end of an era… gotta say 24 years went by pretty quick!

I remember this song was in constant rotation on MTV at the time - and IMO that was a good thing! Chrissy Amphlett (RIP) and the superb understated playing of Mark McEntee made for a stunning combo…

[youtube]wv-34w8kGPM[/youtube]


Cheers,

KF

[darwinohm]

I heard the news about Leo's death but don't remember what I was doing. I was not doing any musician work at that time so was a bit out of touch with the music world. I hadn't heard of G&L and didn't until 16 years after his death. A couple of guitars I had were put away and hadn't been played for years. As Jos said, Times Have Changed.-- Darwin

[Kit]

At that time I was hard at work at a startup in Portland, Oregon. It turned out to be a good thing as the company was bought out 3 years later for a pretty decent sum. I had also stopped playing guitar altogether a few years before that. I did not pick up a guitar again until 1997 when my son was a toddler; I did not play guitar for a stretch of 10 years. I did keep several guitars during the time that I did not play: a 1970 cheap acoustic, a 1975 Stratocaster hardtail, a 1976 Yamaha SG1500, a 1979 Les Paul Custom, and a 1982 Carvin koa DC200. Of these, the LP and the Carvin are now gone.

Not long after I resumed playing was when I discovered G&L as a brand. My first G&L was the first LE (#22 OF 25) commissioned through the original version of this discussion board.

[y2kc]

Good call Sam,

It is difficult for me to say where I was or what I was doing. I know I wasn't in jail at that time. All I know is that Leo left us some kick ass toys!


y2kc

[HLG]

Good call Sam,

It is difficult for me to say where I was or what I was doing. I know I wasn't in jail at that time. All I know is that Leo left us some kick ass toys!


y2kc

Casey, are you sure?
I recall being locked up in a Chicago cell on march 21 1991 during the bluesfest downtown. Cell partner looked just like you.
Just kidding Casey. I haven't been in the hoosegow since.... oh I don't know maybe a couple weeks.
And it wasn't in Chicago, I don't think.
HLG

[sam]

Thanks for all the replies, sure makes me appreciate how Leo affected us and where we were when he left.

Ken, thanks for your service, at least Leo was news worthy for announcements.
HLG, back in 91 who can really recall the cell mates, they all looked the same. As best as I recall
Case24, I was also engaged and it will be 23 years for us this Saturday the 28th. Picked up my first G&L, an ASAT sig right after we got married, I'm a lucky guy.
Jos, yep times have changed and our G&L collections have changed. (you can never have enough ASAT'S!)
Kit, you certainly started off with a great one.
Casey, you still have time to find that jail time.
Katefan, man those MACE amps were all over the place. If we could only go back in itme and pick up those Commemorative's that we thought were just out of reach.

Hopefully we can all avoid time in the pokey, it would just take away guitar playing time.

Agree with all, time sure flies.

[Yamwich]

Hope I'm not too late to the party...

I was in my freshman year of high school and one of my friends had just turned me on to classic rock. I was just digging in to Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd. It would still be a few months until I decided to pick up one of my dad's guitars, a Goya classical guitar built in 1967 or 1968, and started trying to figure out how to tune and play it. The 'Net was still very new - nothing like this board existed in those days, or if it did, I never found it.