Lunch today will be a Subway sandwich - probably ham and cheddar on oat bread, with sweet peppers. I follow the same lunch routine on my Fridays off: pick up a sandwich, have it wrapped as two separate halves, and head in to the boys' school to eat lunch with them. The last two years my wife (who is making a mid-career change from insurance broker to special education teacher) was also working in the same school, so I used to have three lunches in a row when her lunch break didn't overlap with one of my sons.
Today's photos are going to shift away from my G&Ls to my sons' Fenders. I'm not in favor of buying kids high-end instruments as status symbols, but I didn't want them to start on something unplayable like my first Kay was. If you look around, aren't in a hurry and don't mind a few imperfections, some good deals can be found. Both of these cost about the same as a short-scale Chinese import.
First comes Cloudy, my youngest son's Musicmaster:
Cloudy was named by my son within about two minutes of first opening the case. The blue paint has been refinished. The seller claimed it was pretty rough and priced it accordingly, but I'm very happy with the job that was done on it. It doesn't look like a G&L or PRS, but then again a Musicmaster's not supposed to. There are also some scuffs on the neck, but they don't affect playability. It played like a dream when it arrived, but with the weather starting to change it is showing signs that a setup will be in order soon.
Next is my older son's 2002 MIM Precision Junior:
My son has a name for this bass, but he isn't telling anybody. I suspect it's named after a girl in his class. At least that's what his brother claims. Anyway, this is a very sweet bass guitar. It has the same 30" scale and about the same neck profile as the Musicmaster, but the alder slab body is scaled down quite a bit. The pickup is the same one that was being used in the US-built Precisions. The control is a single volume. This gives really decent volume for a short scale, especially compared to the Musicmaster's leftover Strat pickup. The flame in this bass's neck is incredible.
G&L topic: Is G&L missing the student market? The Tribute series are great guitars by almost all accounts, but when it comes to smaller hands and shorter arms they aren't exactly user-friendly. Hunting down short-scale instruments for my kids to learn on was not easy. Aside from a couple of Fender models on the used market, the choices were very low-quality Asian imports for around $300-500. The next step up was $1000 or more to get into Gibsons or boutique instruments. Heck, forget the kids, I want a good short scale bass at a price that matches the quality. Do you think G&L should consider producing a couple of smaller instruments? Could you see yourself buying a 22" scale Fallout or a 30" scale SB-1?
Non-G&L topic: It's Friday the 13th. I am fine with that, especially since I have the day off. I don't walk under ladders because I don't want things to fall on me, I won't light three cigarettes off a single match because I don't want lung cancer, and I'm more concerned about deer than black cats running in front of my car. I do admit to getting just as creeped-out walking up a dark flight of stair now as I did in grade school. I don't know why, but sometimes I get a feeling like something is walking up the steps behind me. What superstitions will you admit to? Please leave religion out if this - if not out of respect for fellow G&L heads, then at least to keep Craig from having to lock a Lunch Report thread!
Thanks again for plenty of good discussion this week. Keep your stick on the ice!
Ken
).
