Lunch Report Wednesday January 8th - auld lang syne

[Dave_P]

Lunch today was a ham and brie sandwich with chips and a bit of caesar salad. All and all pretty good though the sandwich was a little heavy on the arugula.

In the spirit of auld lang syne I'm going to start off by looking back at my first encounter with G&L guitars. The year was somewhere in the vicinity of 1997-98 ish. One of my best friends, Tim, and I were perusing the local music chain "Daddy's Junky Music" looking at the typical Strats, Les Pauls etc adorning the walls when I noticed a Strat-looking guitar with a weird headstock. It was way up on the wall, far beyond where I could reach, I pointed it out to Tim and he was already in the know. He gave me a quick history of G&L and the seed was planted. I never did get to play that Legacy way up on the wall, I can't recall the price but it was definitely more than I could afford at the time and I was too young/shy to ask them to get it down.
Fast forward a couple of years, I was visiting Tim up at college and lo and behold there in his dorm room was a Legacy, natural finish with a black pickguard, white pickup covers/knobs. That was the first G&L I played.

What was your first G&L encounter?

Unfortunately Tim passed away last year. He was like a brother to me and musically we just clicked. One of those rare people it's easy with, so incredibly creative and the catalyst for many, many good times. What brings this all back together is Tim left me that guitar, the first G&L I ever played.

Now, I hadn't seen or heard this guitar in 20+ years. I didn't even know he still had it, I figured it had long since been sold, but there it was.



Project time, clearly someone went a bit crazy with the sharpies and the pickups aren't working (one has a break in the windings). I'll do a proper project post in the projects section and perhaps you all can help me make some decisions with this one.

How about you, any projects on the bench at the moment?

Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind?

I'll end today with this, I couldn't tell you about how I was introduced to G&L or about the Legacy project without telling you a bit about Tim. Take the time in this new year to appreciate those that are close to you. We shouldn't need a reminder but we often do, hope you all are off to a Happy New Year!

-Dave

[tomanche]

Just returned home for a late lunch after 4 hours on the road. Snacked on an apple and peanuts halfway; had hummus, rice, black tea, and half a macaroon just now at home.

I had seen G&L ads in Guitar Player during the early '80s. My first G&L encounter was at George Peacock Instrument Repair in San Francisco, ca. spring 1992. He had a Comanche VI Signature in the window. I stepped inside to ask him, "What is that guitar with all those switches?" He said, "That is an amazing guitar." Like you, I was too shy to ask to play it.
In the mid-90s, I saw a friend's band play and one of them had an S-500. I asked him a question about it, that's all.
In the late '90s, I took my '65 Ampeg Reverberocket 2 for repair to a local shop, and another customer began a conversation because he had the same model. We drove to his house to compare it, and he played an S-500. Probably the first G&L I ever laid hands on.
But that Comanche VI really lit the fire, and my first G&L was the reissue Studio 6 in 2007. Later, I acquired Greg G's Comanche VI Signature from another forumite. Just played it for a New Year's Eve gig! Fantastic guitar.

[mutts]

First encounter with G&L was at Fiddler's Music on Detroit's east side circa 1987. Store is gone now. It's where I bought my first G&L. Upstairs was an amp repair shop called Blitz Amps.I miss the old ma and pop stores.

[john o]

Hi Dave, glad you found your way back to GbL!

It's important not to skip lunch. i had a chicken parm sandwich with a stale roll and some good soup.

i first saw G&L's in a guitar mag in the early '90's. i thought the z coil pups looked interesting, if not a little weird.
I started listening to umphrey's mcgee in 2007. when i saw them in 2008 in Philly, Jake C was playing an s-500 special and he was rockin on that thing. of course, he's a phenomenal player. my brother had a red 4 string G&L bass that he played in our band 'round 2010-12. i'm not sure which one but it sure sounded nice. 1st time i played a G&L gtr was a new tribute legacy at a local music store. at the time i was playing a MIM player's strat that was pretty nice, but i didn't like the bridge/tailpiece. i ordered a B stock trib legacy online around 2014 and really liked the CLF-100 pups, the PTB circuit and the DFV bridge tailpiece was light years better than the 6 screw Fender B/T/V. I sold the strat. In Dec 2015 I acquired my usa comanche from Martin Music in Memphis and that started the runaway train. I have several G&L's now that i really enjoy playing in different settings, but the comanche has been to almost every rock gig i've done over the last 8 years. It's a really special instrument in alot of ways and sounds great through my Carvin V3m.

happy new year!

[sam]

Another great LR Dave!

Lunch was a bagel and cream cheese with hot tea. Not too exciting but tasty.

After reading about G&L in the music rags my first exposure was at a local music shop in northern Indiana about 1983. They had a SC-3 I believe it was. Was looking for a tele at the time so it didn't have the gotta take it home vibe, but really liked the necks. HOWEVER, 1984 was in San Francisco and ran across an ASAT at a shop and knew that was where I was going. Unfortunately didn't get my first G&L until 1992, an ASAT Classic Signature, still have. Easy to say I am hook line and sinker G&L. Brainwashe.... er, "Enlightened" my son early with G&L, so even after a venture to Dinky and Dimebag guitars he is now "borrowing" my ASAT Charlie Christian and getting rave reviews on the tone from his college jazz band crew.

john o, love Umphrey's Mcgee, and even got a Jake Cinninger Jake Blade to use with my DFV guitars off flea bay. Great little tool once you get used to it vs standard trem bar.

As much as i love projects and usually have one going, nothing now. Looking for your updates.

Great sentiment on friends. Happy New Year to ya'!

[DanDoulogos]

Thanks for the report Dave! I have been on course the last three days, and our lunches have been catered, so I don't get to eat like this every day. But lunch today is supposed to be (it's still early in the morning, but we are aware of what they will be serving), will be a buffet that includes a choice (or combo) or two main dishes (Alfredo Penne with shish kabob chicken or Lasagna), and a choice (or combo) of salads (Mediterranean or Caesar) - and a medley of fried/steamed/baked vegetables (backed potatoes with bacon and cheese, stir fry (broccoli, cauliflower, onions etc.), hashbrowns, and carrots in a brown sugar sauce. I'mma go with the lasagna, a kabob, and the mediterranean salad. I am still dieting, but this week I am taking advantage of the lunches... calories be damned.

I was in a pawn shop twenty years ago or so. I had sold my first electric guitar (a Gibson Les Paul deluxe from the early 70s) years earlier having moved on to Fender guitars after being impressed with SRV's insane tone. I'd had other Les Pauls since then, a cherry Sunburst Standard and a Root Beer finished standard - both of which didn't have the tone of that original Deluxe. So around that time I was once again feeling nostalgic for my old Les Paul, and having seen a few Les Paul's on the wall of this Pawn shop I just happened to be passing by (on other business), I stopped in and asked to look at the Les Pauls. There were three, but one caught my eye. I plugged it in and played it - but it didn't have that tone I was looking for. I was kind of put off by that, but I decided to try the other two just in case. Nope, the other two were even worse than the first. So I unplugged the last one and put the last one back on the wall. The pawnbroker was a pretty decent, amicable fellow - who, like everyone living on sales, was chatting me up to try and make a sale. Having seen me getting ready to leave he said he had another Les Paul that wasn't on the wall, and asked if I'd like to give it a look. I said sure, and he pulled out a Heritage H150 CM. It was a black beauty - gold hardware, bound ebony fretboard (white binding) and the same binding on the body (front and back). I saw the headstock, and realized immediately this was not a Gibson headstock - and because I didn't know anything about Heritage guitars - I just assumed it was a cheap, knock off guitar and I had no interest whatsoever in playing it. But I am Canadian, and inclined to be polite so even though I had no interest, I plugged it in -fully intending to go through the motions as quickly as possible - with a mind to find some flaw I could use to dismiss the guitar, and leave with the impression that I was disappointed that it just wasn't what I was looking for.

But this Heritage "Les Paul" - was un-freaking-believable. It was not only "as good" as my original Les Paul - it was better in every way. I played it for half an hour - it played as well as it sounded. But I was a brand slave. I didn't want to buy a "knock off" guitar. So I left without it. But I couldn't get it off my mind. It ticked every box except the brand. So I decided to find out about Heritage guitars. When Gibson decided to move from Kalamazoo Wisconsin to Nashville Tennessee - a number of their Luthiers - who decades of experience in making Gibson guitars - didn't want to move to Nashville - having raised their families in Kalamazoo. So they bought the property and all the machinery - and even a lot of the wood and supplies - and began making "Heritage" guitars - using the same forms and machines and wood and glue etc. as they had been doing all along under the Gibson umbrella. Essentially - they were the exact same quality as any Gibson guitar - and perhaps even better quality, because these were some of the best Luthiers in the company.

In sleuthing this out I decided to buy the guitar (and I did), but I also, in searching for info on Heritage guitars, I found on some website the story of G&L guitars - which was mentioned because it was similar in that few people knew the real history of Heritage guitars, and just as few knew the history of G&L guitars. I had seen G&L guitars before, but dismissed them as knockoffs. Having almost turned my nose up at a fantastic guitar, my guitar snobbery starting to drop away enough that when I read about G&L I wanted to buy one to see if it was "all that". The opportunity came about nine years ago, when I saw a Legacy for sale on my local craigslist-like website. I went and played it, and fell in love. It was everything it promised to be.

I haven't got any projects on the go right now, but I did spy a Tribute Legacy in excellent condition locally for $320 USD - which I think is a steal and a half. I may be able to convince my wife that I "need" this guitar - but I think it'll sell quick and I will probably miss out.