Lunch report - Monday 14th February 2011

[BillEvans1956]

Lunch:

Well, here I am then. Bill Evans, a 50+ guy living in Shrewsbury, Shropshire in the United Kingdom. Thanks for the opportunity to be your Lunch Reporter for this week. I hope I live up to your expectations. This posting is mid evening UK time, so hardly a proper Lunch Report. But, my employer doesn’t allow any non-official time online, so I had to wait until I got home to do this. This will be the pattern for the rest of the week. So, many apologies if you are expecting something posted at midday.

Lunch? Well, a ham sandwich and a fruit yoghurt. Not that exciting. That’s what I have most days in the week to be honest. On autopilot first thing in the morning when I make them. Not very adventurous, and I really don’t have a lot of time for lunch in my job anyway. On the road a lot. Well, on the train a lot mostly. My employer likes their staff to take the greener and cheaper option when travelling anywhere on business. So, I’m working out of Telford today (also in Shropshire). Google it. The town is the shopping mall. There’s nothing else there. It’s weird.

G&L topic:

I left it a bit late in life to start my electric guitar journey. It was early 2007 that I decided to take the plunge and buy one. Eric Clapton’s music has been a significant thread throughout my life, so I thought “maybe Stratocaster, maybe Les Paul”. Well, Les Paul guitars seemed very pricey to me at the time. I got looking at the MIM Fender range and settled on a Chrome Red Stratocaster. White pickguard. Rosewood neck. It played well. I got on with it ok. Twanged away. But, then I ended up 6 months in Iraq and away from the guitar for a very long time. Fortunately, we had internet access out there, and during the dull long quiet night shifts, I got to checking out other brands. I don’t know for sure how I got onto G&L, but the more I read about the brand, the more I became keen to own one. Very keen. Plus, 6 months in Iraq and you get to accumulate a lot of money. A lot. So, I settled on a US built Legacy HB. Standard off-the-peg build with natural gloss finish and tortoiseshell pickguard. Rosewood neck. I found myself a UK dealer who could order one for me. So, all the way from out there in Iraq, I ordered myself my very first G&L – to be delivered once I’d returned to the UK. All set to go. But, it didn’t end there. No! The same dealer was advertising a used US built ASAT Special Deluxe in blue burst. It was ‘B stock’ as it had a bit of cracking to the lacquer around the jack socket. So, I made him an offer, figuring that if I am already buying a brand new guitar from him, he could ‘do me a deal’ on the ASAT. He did. Got a good price for the two guitar package. Got the ASAT delivered first whilst I was at home for my R&R visit to the UK nearly two years ago now, and then the Legacy delivered once I’d returned home for good in May 2009. Long story short then – just before last Christmas, I spotted on eBay a brand new ASAT Special Deluxe ‘custom’ (clear red, dual fulcrum vibrato, neck & body binding, rear body profile). How could I resist! A real beauty. Did a deal (a very good deal) with the dealer (this time in Texas) and got the guitar imported direct to me just before Christmas. What a wonderful Christmas present to myself! Well, why not I thought. I worked hard for the cost of that.

So folks, tell me your tales of how you first came to own a G&L instrument. Can you remember the first one and the circumstances around the purchase? Did you stop at just the one guitar, or do you have several in your collection now?
(BTW. The MIM standard Stratocaster was sold soon after I returned home. How could it possibly compete with G&L?)

Non G&L topic:

St Valentine’s Day isn’t it? How did you spend yours? I was up and away very early this morning and well before my dear wife had surfaced from her slumbers. I did leave her a card and a box of chocolates though, for which she did text me a ‘Thank You’ earlier today. Did you get anything ‘special’ from your ‘Significant Other’? We’ve been married only since 6th April 2010. Second time around for us both. The marriage was at Whittington Castle near Oswestry, Shropshire. Google it. It was a great day. Lovely location, but it was a very cold day. Will celebrate our first wedding anniversary soon. Off to Greece – but that’s a tale for another time.

There you go then folks. I hope it’s not too dull for you?

Bill

[blargfromouterspace]

Hi Bill. Nice to see the lunch reports coming out of the U.K., it's always nice to hear from another country. I have family in Essex (a little town called Burnham-on-Crouch) and in Cardiff - we migrated to Australia when I was 3. I've been back a few times and whilst I enjoy seeing the family I can't handle the weather! And I love those real ales, I target pubs with CAMRA signs up when I'm there.

Valentines Day - I thought it was on Tuesday so hadn't got around to buying any presents or organising anything for Monday. With a stroke of luck, my girlfriend had to fly to Sydney at 5:30am yesterday and left me a present on the kitchen table - a few packets of Cadbury Creme Eggs, the finest confection on the planet . With her away I was thus able to go and buy a present during the day for when she returned home, a large box of chocolates. I cooked us a romantic, candlelight dinner of shredded chicken burritos. I like burritos. Then we watched 'The Comic Strip' on video, which I know that you'll be familiar with. I love that show.


G&Ls - I think I first came across G&L in a magazine. I found one in a shop, a red ASAT Tribute, and loved it, but was refused credit so didn't end up with it. Eight years later I was making good money and finally bought one and it was love at first touch. I have three now and intend to get another couple at least!

[Kit]

Excellent first lunch report, if I may say so.

Interesting that you had wanted a Strat-type guitar because of Eric Clapton but ended up buying a Legacy HB (that'd be humbucker I take it). But then you made up for it with 2 Specials which should have big MFD's on them(?)

I started guitar a long time ago, but quit for 10 years and did not pick it back up until 1998. I started looking at what guitars were out there that year and found this website. I went and played a few of the G&Ls I found in local stores and liked how they played and sounded. I already had a few guitars then so I wasn't exactly looking to buy more. And then this discussion group decided to commission a Limited Edition guitar from G&L and that pushed me over the edge and I ended up with what is known as the GbL LE, I have #22 out of 25. Since then I have acquired a L-2000 bass and a 1990 SC3 and I'm very happy with what I now have.

Kit

[sickbutnottired]

Good to see you on LR duty Bill.

Valentines day - Like some others around here I like to cook. So i jumped out of bed this am and told the wife happy valentines day, and then said were just going to have left overs and I might be late coming home. I, however, have ingredients of pretty decadent steak and crab dinner hidden in a cooler in the garage so I am going to run home and cook that up. Maybe with some spanish saffron rice and....

First G&L - I have told this story before, I think. But it tickles me that someone tried to steal my first G&L from the store, botching the job so badly that I could then afford to buy it. I think my dad payed $300 for the f-100. So I have no COA or case because the master criminal got away with it.

I like G&L guitars and have a had a few over the years, currently have 3, including my beloved F-100.

Update: I just read Blargs entry. I am going to get a coupe more G&L's, as ASAT Special (a Broadcaster is my dream, I just about bought 1 on ebay, but i got to doing some due diligence and remembered that I promised my wife no new guitars until I get the landscaping done in the front yard). I also want a bluesboy, which I have almost decided to make my first totally new electric ever.

[Dr B]

Great post Bill.

I'm late to guitar myself and have had a similar route. I turn 40 years old this March and have only started playing at about 37 years. I was also heavily influenced by Eric Clapton - more so the 1980s / 1990s clapton. Obviously the Cream days were seminal - but to my ear, he is playing better now (more considered approach to blues and nothing to prove to anyone). I've seen him live three times - different every time. Learning guitar has also turned me on to other guitarists and I cannot believe that i had not heard of Peter Green until about 12 months before i started playing guitar - for me Peter Green is the only guy that gives Clapton a good run for his money as a creative electric blues player. Superb phrasing from both players

My first G&L was a Tribute ASAT classic, 3-tone sunburst, maple neck, tortoise shell PG. My next one will soon be on its way as a 40th birthday present to me. Its paid for, I am just waiting to organise and time delivery for my birthday (its a spalted maple USA Legacy).

I found out about G&L through my guitar teacher (a professional musician and teacher who has been playing for 30 years in loads of bands). He told me that many session players were raving about G&L being better strats and teles than Fender and how many were recording with G&L for better tone. I wanted a tele originally - but could not afford it and the 'copies' that were out there were all crap. He then introduced me the the G&L option and I have never looked back.

[Boogie Bill]

Well, roughly...the story goes like this:

I started playing the guitar when I was 14 (1964), on an old Stella tenor guitar we had kicking around the house. My first electric was a Fender Duo Sonic, in Desert Tan with a RW board, c. 1960. I think I was about 16 when I got it, with a little Kalamazoo Model II amp. Mom paid around $88.00 for the guitar.

So I had a real love for Fenders. I had an ash body 1969 Telecaster Thinline with a Bigsby, and then my 1960 Strat. The Tele was only a few months old when I got it. I bought the Strat in early 1973 after the Tele was stolen. I paid $150 for each guitar. Ahhh, those were the days...

I guess it was late 1978 or '79 when I started looking for another guitar. I'd acquired a couple of Gibsons: a 1975 Les Paul '55 Special Reissue and a c. 1969-70 ES-150DCN, but nothing was really doing the job for me. When the ads for the Music Man Sabres came out, they looked promising. My local store finally got one in, it took me about 30 minutes in the store to figure out how I was going to use it, and I took it home. A couple of years later, the F-100 came out, but I thought the Sabre was a better guitar. In 1985, I eventually acquired a second Sabre II and modded it with a third pickup.

But by the 1991, I was needing a new guitar. I had to sell my 60 Strat to stay alive after a divorce. I was no longer doing a single act, but now had a band. I'd known about G&L from the start, and just happened to run across a deal on a really sweet year old S-500, with the new Strat body, a post Signature model. The original owner had put a Duncan JB, Jr. in the bridge. A year later, I bought a new Legacy. From 2001 though, the GAS really took over--I now have 16 G&Ls: nine Legacys, and two each of the Comanche, S-500 and Legacy Special models. I really love these guitars.

Always interesting to hear how people came to G&L.

Bill

[Philby]

I've always been a Strat man. My first 3 guitars were all variations on a stratocaster and I saw no reason to try anything else. Though I love the sound of Teles and Les Pauls, the generally beefy necks on those guitars were uncomfortable for me. So I ignored them for about 20 years. One day I was browsing in a music store while my wife shopped next door in a clothes shop. There was a row of G&L ASAT's on the wall and I pulled a handsome Tribute ASAT Special down out of curiosity. It was love at first play and I walked out with it. Two months later I went back and bought the Tribute ASAT Classic semi-hollow that was my second favourite in the shop.

Thanks to G&L I am now a big fan of Tele style guitars, and they really opened my eyes to what a decent Tele should feel and sound like.

[asphalt-abate]

Bill:

I lived in Long Beach, California in the early 80's and I remember G & Ls showing up at the ma and pa music store down the road from my apartment. The salesman told me about the Leo Fender conection but for naught. I was taking home $128 per week and I couldn't afford a new guitar. However I did file the idea away. Flash forward to the mid 2000's and after taking 7 years off from playing I decided to buy a guitar and start playing again. Of course I was interested in G & L because of my earlier introduction. I researched on the web and found out that the ASAT Special was highly regarded so I bought one off of e-bay. It's served me well for the last 5 years. I'm currently considering either an ASAT Classic or a Bluesboy.


Tom

[cmguitar]

As far a Valentines Day goes,
We decided not to go out and eat the wife is making Rubens.
I am taking her for a steak dinner this week. I gave her orchids the other day.C.Y.A.

We have been married 15 years now so we got every thing figured out with each other.

What got me on G&Ls is I used to play in bands ect... in the 70s and early 80s.
1st marriage and just life in general made me quit for 14 years. I have forgotten more than I can remember now. I am almost 50.
In the early 90's I bought a MIM Fender Strat.
I knew I wanted better . I run across my Legacy at a Guitar Center so I bought it. That was after trying out a wall of guitars I am picky about guitars so brand didn't influence me. It was vib, feel ect...
Now I have brands I prefer more than others but a name brand isn't a deal maker or breaker. Unless its the current Gibson company or its subsidiaries (For personal and political reasons) Since then I have added a list of Fernandes and had as many as 13 guitars at one time.(I am down to 8 now) I Got my ASATIII for a steal! I like a Tele sound and feel like a Strat
So the ASAT III and my Fender Fat Strat Texas Special are my main guitars now If I want a true Strat sound I go to the Legacy or my Fernandes LE1.


Chet

[vinnyk]

Ah, my first G&L story!
I was trolling the local music store and noticed a strange looking guitar hanging up high and out of reach.
Noticed the G&L logo on the headstock, and pulled it down.
I really had no knowledge of G&L's and played Fenders mostly.
I plugged that SC-2 in and was blown away!
The price seemed fair to me and away she came,home with me.
The dang thing was so addicting to play, that I was compelled to buy an ASAT Classic not long after.
Was curious about the date of the SC-2, so I pulled the neck off.
Both neck and pocket were dated 1982 but the neck also bears the mark 11/00 Special and is quarter sawed Maple.
Turns out there is no truss adjuster and it is a pre-sprung neck.Leo was experimenting with this design or something, no one seems to know much about it.
It was determined(by general board discussions) due to that issue, the body being a butterscoth color(seems to be nitro-celuse) and an un-registered serial number(only 2 #'s missing from the production log, every build accounted for or so they say!) that this was a employee build from hijacked parts

I have both G&L's and play my Classic 1st and foremost.
#2 is a Fender Strat , but would probably want a Maple or Mahogany S-500 if funds were more available for that stuff.

Down side to having lots of kids, leaves the ole' music budget a little lite.

Cheers!
Vinnyk

[zapcosongs]

I love old Blighty though I've never been. Where would music (or the USA or Canada or Austrailia) be without you anyways (silly Monarchy notwithstanding)?

My first G&L (abbreviated version): Lots of beer plus eBay plus desire to have a P-90 equipped Tele resulted in a beautiful Belair Green ASAT Special arriving by UPS. Clearly, the pickups were not P-90s. They were magic and the guitar felt like an old friend immediately.
I have quite of G&Ls now several years later (including two basses, which I haven't the foggiest idea how to play!).

Valentine's Day: I got what I really wanted. So did she. 'Nuff said! Chocolate. ;+) - ed

[Aussie]

Hi Bill and a belated welcome to the G&LDP
My parents were born and bred in Dewsbury, Yorkshire, and as it turns out my wife (who I met here in AUS) was born just a few miles from where my parents came from.

So folks, tell me your tales of how you first came to own a G&L instrument

I'd been aware of and interested in G&L since Mr Fender split with Musicman, but the first time I ever saw one in the flesh was just a few years back when we did a charity gig. One of the other bands on that night was a classic rock band called "The Filth", a band made up of senior members of the Western Australian Police Force, and led by Police Commissioner Karl O'Callahan. Karl played a G&L Legacy and for the first time I had a chance to try a G&L. Loved it and was so impressed that I did something I had never done before or since and bought one online. BTW whenever The Filth play, the money they make and raise is donated to charity ... wait for it .... Police Legacy.

…Cadbury Creme Eggs, the finest confection on the planet .

Oooh yeah .... I'm dining at your house brother

Valentines day. Well i had plans .... but they fell apart when I got a call from the high school at lunch time to tell me that they had sent my son off to hospital with a recurrence of the collapsed lung he had late last year. He's doing ok and is back home today (Tuesday) already, but valentines day dinner plans were history. I did manage to calll my daughter and have here arrange for some flowers to be there when we got home thouigh.

cheers, Robbie

[Jaystrings]

Howdy
I2 years ago I had noticed an occasional G&L guitar in a music store, but no one seemed to know much about them. One salesdude even told me they were Fender's "low end" guitar. I think he was referring to the Standard models. It was later that I went into Buffalo Brothers as I was 2,000 miles from home and on vacation. I was like a dog in a meat house. I went in there on a weekday and pretty much spent 2 entire days with owner Tim Page, messing with a whole store full of them. I had a new S-500 shipped home. Since that day, I've owned many - including 20 that have come from that same store, thanks to their unbelievable 100% upgrade policy. I was hooked on 'em & still have about 50 - although I'm listing duplicates for sale in the marketplace right now in order to keep 'em out of the closet.

Valenties Day at my house consists of my wife giving me a card and something music related [like a Taylorware t-shirt] and me writing a poem, song, or home-made card for her. Lemme tell ya, a good guitar wife is a TRUE valentine.

Nice start to the week
Jay

[Dave_P]

Hey Bill, great start to the week, glad to hear from the U.K. I'd love to make a trip across the pond one day

Valentine's Day, spent the whole day in bed.... but not in a good way. Woke up about 2am with a high fever and chills, which then progressed to hugging the toilet.

My wife did get me a card and some soup though

First G&L:
The first G&L I came across was in the late 90's. A good friend of mine bought a Legacy, natural finish with a black pickguard. I remember that being a great guitar, he still has it though I haven't seen it or him in a few years now.

I had sold off my guitar equipment and stopped playing for close to ten years, borrowed a friends guitar for a while, then when it was time to buy that Legacy stuck in my mind, did some reading and came to the conclusion I wanted to mix things up a bit and get an ASAT. Tried to find a local dealer with no luck so off to CL and ebay, I wanted translucent red with a birdseye neck. I found a red one (late 90's I think) with a rosewood neck, but the guy kept delaying/not responding to my emails.
I then found a metallic blue ASAT with a birdseye neck and locking tuners (bonus!) The deal was done, turns out it had a lovely V profile neck that just fit my hand perfectly, and there was not a scratch on it. Since then I have bought another ASAT 1990 in natural finish with a black guard

I'd like to track down a maple bodied ASAT someday (hopefully a Broadcaster). If I ever get the cash I'd order a SH Bluesboy (no F hole) in translucent red with natural binding, black guard, birdseye neck (satin finish) with a 2a (vintage V) profile and locking tuners

-Dave

[yowhatsshakin]

Hi Bill,

For Valentines day, my wife surprised me with a dinner date at Kabul Afghan Cuisine with some very dear friends of ours. They had been raving about this place for about a decade already, but for some strange reason we never got around to actually go there. Splendid food and a wonderful evening.

As a post-doc in Nuclear Physics, I never earned a lot of money. We had been living in Italy for a couple of years and had moved to the US in '95. During all of that time, I only had my trusty Ibanez AW-25 12-string with me. And it was my only guitar at that time. I had given away my L-5 to a friend and my other guitars were junk. But I really wanted to get back to playing electric. Early '98, and a bit to my surprise, my wife told me I could buy a guitar and an amp. Enter a Mesa DC-3 and a Gibson LP Standard at Guitarville. So far no G&L involved.

About a half year later, we stumbled across the Zobrist in downtown Seattle. I played a beautiful Clear Orange ASAT Classic and loved it; way better than my LP. But no green light for a purchase. I needed to save up a little more money. When I could buy it, unfortunately it was gone already. With money burning in my pocket, and browsing through the available models, I played this great sounding Legacy Special. I could convince my wife that augmenting an LP with a Strat was a 'sound' decision too. That was my first G&L. I'm up to 25 now, most of them ASAT models, with number 26 on the way.

The LP is long gone. I traded it in for an PRS Artist II leading me on the road to create a collection without the big three: Gibson, Fender, and Martin. I stick to PRS, G&L, and Collings, respectively, and don't regret it one bit.

- Jos

P.S. Am I still in academia? Of course not! I wouldn't be able to fund my G.A.S. In my case, giving up one dream allowed me to realize another.

[BillEvans1956]

I now have 16 G&Ls: nine Legacys, and two each of the Comanche, S-500 and Legacy Special models.

Very nice collection.

Bill

[BillEvans1956]

I love old Blighty though I've never been. Where would music (or the USA or Canada or Austrailia) be without you anyways (silly Monarchy notwithstanding)?

Yeah. It's not such a bad ol' place really.

Bill

[BillEvans1956]

Valentines day. Well i had plans .... but they fell apart when I got a call from the high school at lunch time to tell me that they had sent my son off to hospital with a recurrence of the collapsed lung he had late last year. He's doing ok and is back home today (Tuesday) already, but valentines day dinner plans were history. I did manage to calll my daughter and have here arrange for some flowers to be there when we got home thouigh.

Well, I hope your son is ok now? That's a worry for you all I imagine.

Bill

[BillEvans1956]

Since that day, I've owned many - including 20 that have come from that same store, thanks to their unbelievable 100% upgrade policy. I was hooked on 'em & still have about 50 - although I'm listing duplicates for sale in the marketplace right now in order to keep 'em out of the closet.

Valenties Day at my house consists of my wife giving me a card and something music related [like a Taylorware t-shirt] and me writing a poem, song, or home-made card for her. Lemme tell ya, a good guitar wife is a TRUE valentine.

Nice post Jay. Sounds like you've got wall-to-wall guitars in your house.

Bill

[BillEvans1956]

Hey Bill, great start to the week, glad to hear from the U.K. I'd love to make a trip across the pond one day

Valentine's Day, spent the whole day in bed.... but not in a good way. Woke up about 2am with a high fever and chills, which then progressed to hugging the toilet. :sick:

Not a good start to the week for you though Dave. Hope you have recovered now?

Yep, come to the UK some day. Lots to discover here.

Bill