The place to discuss, post photos, video, and audio of the G&L products (US instruments, stomp boxes, etc.) produced after 1991, including the amps & gear we use with them.
Since my most recent purchase on Saturday, it occurred to me that G&L has recently become very innovative by their use of woods in solidbody, electric guitars. This would be something that would be offered only in high end acoustic guitars at a much higher price. We are used to seeing Flamed or Quilted maple caps and necks as the ultimate in electric guitar woods but in looking back G&L is absolutely the leader in experimenting with premium woods at an affordable price. They had the Spalted Maple, the Korina edition and recently have had several limited availability woods to offer. What is amazing is that they are not adding $1000 to the base price but offering them at almost the price that we are used to paying. They are also in smaller quantities and almost guarantee some value of investment.
They have always used beautiful woods but recently they are offering some "Diamonds" in my opinion and they do it differently than the others. For example, the Butterscotch Blondes are very transparent and rich looking. The same offering from Fender would have a milky appearance from pigment in the paint and not have a GOT neck. Look at the two side by side and you wouldn't even believe the difference. That is not even mentioning the difference in the Ash wood used. The wood offerings recently are unheard of in what we would consider normal build guitars. Even the boutique builders would probably offer these on special orders only and you would wait for months to get one. My hats off to Dave and everyone at G&L for some awesome offerings and there is no question that they are light years ahead of the big F with their products. It couldn't happen at the big F. This is in my opinion exactly what Leo would have done. BBE has continued the Leo legacy. We don't always see it coming but look backward and it is as clear as a ringing bell. I tell you folks, this is not a paid testimonial, it is how I feel. I was not prepared for this last one and it was a tough one to lay on the CEO in this house. "You Bought What??????" Head immediately dropping down and looking at the floor. -- Darwin
I agree Darwin. The Korina Jr I own is a lovely piece of wood - it's not heavily or evenly figured, but when the light catches it just right it shows off a nice bit of what looks like flaming. I hope they keep this up, especially with all this talk about traditional wood sources nearing empty. I'm looking forward to seeing what the CCD come up with next!
I agree completely. I don't have anything newer than 2000, but it's really clear that they took great care to match the boards for the multi-piece bodies on my couple of transparent ash and maple finishes. The ash on my 2000 L2K is much better than you'll find on custom furniture or cabinetry. Even the nicer Fenders I've seen are completely washed-out in comparison.
As I commented on the thread about your new guitar, I love the bookmatching on the two-piece body. Somebody at the factory put some care into selecting that wood, and putting it together for the best appearance. I definitely wasn't just tossed into the CNC machine at random...
