Opinions on G&L Guitars?

[screamndemon69]

i have a G&L Climax XL (circa '93-'95?) that i heard is now the Legacy line. i have never given the company much thought , though i do like Fender guitars. this guitar is FAT!!! i'm picking it up for $275 w/ the original case and it is easily 9/10 condition. the neck is a one piece maple and the body has a "marble" type of blue and black finish. not sure of the body wood- i'm guessing alder. the pups sound great (two hums)!! it has a FR liscensed trem and lock. the neck is totally different from anything i've tried before. the neck is kinda wide and thick yet almost flat on the back. the only problem i have with the guitar is the tuners are the tele style that you have to put the string end into the center hole of the tuner. YUCK!! . i plan to change those out soon with some other ones.
i give a big thumbs up to anyone wanting a G&L!

[frankfalbo]

G&L is without a doubt the finest production Fender type instrument around today. To me, it beats even Tom Anderson and the like if for no other reason than many of their necks still feel "Vintage Fendery" while T.A. is a different animal, and awesome for other reasons. We dealt G&L's for a long time and was an authorized service center. So I got close with the factory guys. Before that, I sold them some Mighty Mite parts. They used the M.M. chrome jackplates for the strat-styles, and the Ibanez style output jack for the rest.

I have a Commanche (bamm, you can come over and borrow it if you want) Where I did a custom mod to make it like the old ones. I used 3 mini toggles to select one or both coils of each pickup. That means top 3 strings or bottom 3 strings. Imagine, neck pickup top 3, bridge and middle bottom 3. Its the coolest thing. I also did that with some custom made Duncan vintage rails. Same concept of 3 strings recognized per coil.

As far as the Korean models, I fully support that project. They are using the US pickups, which are awesome, and all the Leo designed improvements like the bridges for example. A great buy all the way around. I would even say it beats an american standard easily in value.

[frankfalbo]

BTW-screamindemon-send me those tuners! Those are the best! That way you don't cut yourself on the string ends.

[screamndemon69]

you got it Frank! I see the reason for using them- i just haven't mastered restringing with them yet.

[jay ratkowski]

I didn't feel like editing my last post for the new link:

http://www.jayratkowski.com/pics/gear/s500/

I still say G&L is a good guitar for the money. Their resale seems laughable, so if you buy one, make sure you plan on keeping it! Sorry Frank, no production strat guitar beats an Anderson. Not happening.

[frankfalbo]

Andersons aren't production guitars? That CNC equipment he bought 7 or 8 years ago is just for cutting pickguards?

But seriously, I agree that an Anderson has a better build quality and fit/finish. But if you want Fender feel and sound, the Anderson is different than that. The G&L just does the Fender thing, (true vintage, texas blues, or modern) more accurately, so I say it's a better choice for the Fender junky than an Anderson, or other boutique superstrats. I made myself a superstrat with Bartolinis, a bolivian rosewood neck and an ebony board and piezos. It's "better than" any G&L, but it doesn't please the Fender-head.

Actually, when you think about it, the G&L is less of a production instrument than the Anderson. The bodies and necks aren't made on CNC machines like the Andersons, but I digress....

[jay ratkowski]

:-) I meant as far as production guitars go, Anderson is tops. I wasn't trying to infer that Anderson was not built on an assembly line or anything like that. I didn't want to say "Anderson is the best strat ever" and have someone say "Oh my Jorge Jahnsen handmade custom is so much better" or something equally silly.

However, I see your point, if I was a Fender junkie (which I am close to) and wanted that late 60's feel without the price, I'd have a wall full of G&L's.

*group hug*

[bammbamm]

Originally Posted by frankfalbo

G&L is without a doubt the finest production Fender type instrument around today....
I have a Commanche (bamm, you can come over and borrow it if you want)...

To quote a Vai song "I would love to"

I haven't had a chance to get my hands on someone's player G&L and I would really like to find something that has the tone and spank of a strat.
(Had a strat, but my RG-550 out-quacked it in the 2 & 4 positions)

I've been stalking the few Comanche's on E-bay lately

Bamm

[frankfalbo]

Originally Posted by bammbamm

To quote a Vai song "I would love to"

-check your PM-