Late Late Lunch Report Thursday May 10, 2012

[CGT]

The Forum ate my lunch report.

Seriously.

I logged in. Typed up my lunch report in the spiffy blue-white interface. Pressed submit. And the Forum took me to the toxic black and green login screen. All this on a day that I’m coasting on fumes because I was up until 3 AM last night editing a video in Final Cut Pro.

Needless to say I am not a happy camper this evening.

Before I move on to the day’s delayed questions, let me tell you that I had delicious salmon cakes and a garden salad for lunch, was salmon cakes with a garden salad, followed by a soymilk café au lait. (I’ve come to prefer the soy-based variety to the bovine stuff for cappuccinos, lattés and cafés au lait).

So now for my first question. What is the worst G&L-related experience you’ve had. I’m asking this because of my one visit to an authorized dealer.

I bought my Legacy secondhand at the Twelfth Fret, a terrific guitar store in Toronto’s East End. The store manager gave me an excellent price but admitted to not knowing much about the company. I did a little research on the web (finding this place, among other things) and I also looked for a local dealer, who might be able to tell me more about my instrument.

A few days after I’d made my purchase, I trekked over to the dealer (who shall remain nameless), got some information and tried a 30th Anniversary Legacy. It was a rather disappointing guitar. It sounded dead to me. It didn’t feel right. It may have been the setup. It may have been the ebony fretboard (I am extremely partial to maple boards) or it could have been the Laney amp I was using. Fair enough. Sometimes, even the best instrument won’t grab you and say “I am the one.”

My issue wasn’t the product. My issue was the sales rep. I’d already explained to him that I was not interested in buying that day but simply there to learn about the product, but this did not prevent him from launching into an extended used-car style pitch and his focus was on anything but G&L. He blathered on about his many years experience as a rep for all the big guitar companies, and then he proceeded to trash them. Especially Fender. Now, I’’m not one for an argument from authority. I don’t care how much you know or how many places you’ve worked. I just want the facts and the man gave me none of the facts I’d requested about G&L.

I’m also not big on negative advertising. I don’t care how bad the alternative is. I want to know what your solution can do for me.

Needless to say I wasn’t impressed. I thanked him. Handed back the Legacy and prepared to leave but he went on. At that point, he went into overdrive and tried to sell me an ASAT by bringing in two other salesmen and prodding them to tell me how happy they were with their own G&Ls. I walked out and have never returned.

Now, I realize that G&L has little control over the behaviour of dealer reps but had that been my initial contact with the brand, I may have never bought a Legacy. You know what they say about first impressions.

So, how about you? Do any of you have any horror stories about trying to buy a G&L or getting information about the brand?



My non-G&L question is about guitar picks. Specifically, where do guitar picks disappear to when you leave them lying around the house?

Are they sucked into the same black hole as individual socks?

Or do they disappear to another place?

And why is it that you can never find one when you need one, even though you’ve seeded every room in the house with guitar picks?

Also, have you ever hit the jackpot when tidying up, to discover a whack of picks under a dresser or between sofa cushions?

What is your record for the number of “lost” picks retrieved when cleaning house?

[zapcosongs]

I have never had a really bad G&L experience. I have never even met a G&L dealer.

I bought my first G&L totally by accident, in a late-night, beery eBay mishap. From the description of the guitar (which I may admittedly not have read completely or correctly), I thought I had bid on a P-90 equipped Telecaster.

Long story short, I had the instrument shipped to my office. The guitar arrived late in the AM. At lunchtime, as was my custom, I brought it immediately to my trusted luthier for set-up. I had only glanced superficially at that point. By the end of the work day, it was ready, and I plugged my ASAT Special directly into a vintage Princeton Reverb at the shop. The rest is history. I was immediately interested in learning about G&L and its history, and I've managed to procure a few more (all but one used) without ever meeting a dealer.

Regarding picks, hell if I know where they go - but go they do. One day, I'm half expecting to find a bunch of them in some odd place that I have yet to think of looking. But the other half of me thinks that they are gone forever. You know, to the same place with my half-pair socks. Ha! - ed

[KenC]

I met one G&L dealer in the late 90s. I was just getting back into playing after about a ten-year break and desperately wanted a US-built Fender Strat, although my budget maxed out around $300 at the time. There was one local shop that always had a good used guitar selection. I told the salesman what I was looking for, and he immediately started pushing G&Ls as the "real Fenders". I still had my heart set on the Fender decal, not to mention that the shop didn't have any used G&Ls and the new ones were way out of my price range. They were gorgeous, though. I ended up walking out of the store empty handed. I can't say it was a bad experience, and that pushy salesman definitely planted the G&L seed in my mind. A couple of years later they did have a G&L (a first style SB-1) in my price range. I bought it on the spot, and to this day it is one of my favorites.

I have yet to buy a new G&L. When I do, it will be the LE 2.

When we were unpacking from a move last year, I found about two dozen picks in one of the boxes. I have no idea where they had been in the previous house.

Ken

[Boogie Bill]

I always do my reports in MS Word, and then copy and paste it into the window. Another advantage is that I can then save my reports.

I've not really had any bad experience with G&Ls, but I have met salespersons with no clue. I looked at one used Tribute Legacy that GC had priced higher than a new one, and the guy told me that he knew the price was high, "...but that's what it's worth." I've seen several USA guitars that were priced too high, but usually the stores won't deal on them. It can get bizarre.

And there is one dealer in town that I will not patronize because they screwed me on a drum machine 10 years ago. I shop at Guitar Center now.

I usually find picks in the sofa, sometimes in the washer, or beside the bed. I think I found nine once in the sofa. I always carry picks in my pocket. I usually use Tortex, Gators or the Ultex Dunlops in 1.14 mm, but I have been using the Clayton Ultrems lately, too.

Bill

[louis cyfer]

i usually find the picks inside the lost socks. by some blue chip picks, you will never lose one again.
be careful with soymilk. it lowers your testosterone and increases your estrogen levels. not a good thing when you want to lose bodyfat and maintain muscle tissue.

i had a pretty bad experience when i was at a g&l dealer last time. he tried to sell me on prs and told me that g&l is not taking orders when i expressed interest in ordering an asat special deluxe.

[Elwood]

I found a pick while emptying the shop-vac today.
I've been using some Dunlop .71's recently,
I've found that the pink is a good thing when scanning the room for a pick.


I had an early tribute S-500 that wasn't up to par, that was a while ago and i know G&L has
much better quality control now. I've seen a few tribbies on ebay that were tempting.
I can see one or two in my future.




http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dllVie ... 1001wt_918


Did anyone see this custom order Tribbity ?



http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dllVie ... 500wt_1169

[willross]

My worst situation happened recently and was well discussed. Needless to say, I ordered a new one quartersawn, with a Himalayan double-bound body...

The picks I use are discontinued and there are no others(to my knowledge) like it. They are Pickboy Edge Carbon Nylon 0.75mm. So, I do my best to keep track of them and haven't unintentionally lost one in over 5 years. We'll see about this year. Have a good one!


Cheers,

Will

[darwinohm]

Bummer that your report was lost. Unless you are doing "keep me signed in" I would recommend doing what Bill suggested and use a cut and paste.

We are fortunate to have American Guitar and Band as a G&L dealer, They stock both American and Tributes and have all the necks in stock for anyone to feel. They are also very knowledgeable on G&Ls. Their guitar builder will also be released very soon. I believe that we are fortunate to have a committed dealer. I owned several G&Ls before I bought one from a dealer. I had also been a GC customer for years but in todays world, if you want to pay more, go to the GC. Anyone can beat them on price. They will meet others pricing but you have to ask. AG&B has earned my respect as a customer and that is where I will go. A good example is price a Snark Tuner at the GC and then look online.

I lose picks from time to time, find some, but have many laying around and have a pick in each guitar and many in the guitar cases. I will be in trouble if I ever change pick thickness. I have been working on my finger picking and am getting to the point where I may do some of that and use a pick only when it is needed. Old dogs can learn new tricks but it takes time! Thanks for the week CGT!-- Darwin