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Fender vs. Musicman vs.G&L

#161
Here's my take. Three kinds of buyers:

1. Classic iconic vintage retro. Even my 13 year old appreciates retro! Buy a Fender or Rickenbacker or something.
2. Alternative independent edgy wacky. A jaguar or mosrite or something else oddball.
3. High end and artistic. An Alembic, Fodera etc. or maybe hollow body.

Musicmmen and G&L are just like a slightly warped copy of #1. Vanilla but a little bit funny. Tough for them to get a fair trial!
 
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#162
Doug4321 said:
Here's my take. Three kinds of buyers:

1. Classic iconic vintage retro. Even my 13 year old appreciates retro! Buy a Fender or Rickenbacker or something.
2. Alternative independent edgy wacky. A jaguar or mosrite or something else oddball.
3. High end and artistic. An Alembic, Fodera etc. or maybe hollow body.

Musicmmen and G&L are just like a slightly warped copy of #1. Vanilla but a little bit funny. Tough for them to get a fair trial!
Click to expand...

What about buyers who like and buy all three of your proposed stereotypical categories?

Do they get a special pigeon hole? ;)
 
#165
G&Ls seem pretty generic and lame looking. I’ve trid a few and they are nothing special. IMO, if you had the best Fender example and the best Music Man example side by side, the EBMM would reign superme. Their build quality, fit, finish and feel is it another level.
 
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#167
Mike Vee said:
G&Ls seem pretty generic and lame looking. I’ve trid a few and they are nothing special. IMO, if you had the best Fender example and the best Music Man example side by side, the EBMM would reign superme. Their build quality, fit, finish and feel is it another level.
Click to expand...

I'm a fan of both companies, having owned and played plenty of both - I don't agree that EBMM's best "would reign supreme" over Fender's best - although I definitely feel that EBMM's overall consistency of quality is better than Fender's... I would also rate G&L's overall consistency of quality to be a bit better than Fenders...
 
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#172
Im a G&L endorsee. But it's been an evolution. I used to be with EBMM and believe that they have an excellent product as well. The weight was an issue. Having been working with guys at G&L I can say that it feels like a "real" Fender to me. If you go to the G&L Factory they still have Leo's shop, untouched, covered in dust. The Fender corporation can't even use his first name or image, ever. The G&L' s are PLEK'd and light if you want. They represent the final design concepts of Leo and George Fullerton. All this stuff might not matter to most, but if I had to choose between a multi national behemoth of a company, whose only beholden to their stockholders, or a small company that was only sold to provide employment to its employees before Leo's death. I'll choose G&L.
 
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#173
tbassist said:
Im a G&L endorsee. But it's been an evolution. I used to be with EBMM and believe that they have an excellent product as well. The weight was an issue. Having been working with guys at G&L I can say that it feels like a "real" Fender to me. If you go to the G&L Factory they still have Leo's shop, untouched, covered in dust. The Fender corporation can't even use his first name or image, ever. The G&L' s are PLEK'd and light if you want. They represent the final design concepts of Leo and George Fullerton. All this stuff might not matter to most, but if I had to choose between a multi national behemoth of a company, whose only beholden to their stockholders, or a small company that was only sold to provide employment to its employees before Leo's death. I'll choose G&L.
Click to expand...

Sorry dude, but there are only 2 sentences in this that mean anything, the first and last.
 
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#176
MobileHolmes said:
Hard to say. In terms of popularity, he really goes down hill in order of invention (P>J>MM>G&L), though personally I think the J is my favorite design of his. The Stingray is really important too, of course, and really brought active electronics to the masses. I haven't played enough G&L ot form an opinion, but they have their cult.
Click to expand...

I like Js, apart from the body shape, which doesn't sit as well in a stand.
 
#177
Mantis Tobaggan said:
My preference is the fender precision bass for its tone. Play one in a band setting and it sits perfectly in the mix.
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The tone can vary a lot with the type of Precision pickup being used, and the type of sound I get out of my various Js also varies with pickups. The tone can vary for MMs too, although there seem to be fewer after-market options, and even fewer for a G&L.
 
#178
-Asdfgh- said:
The tone can vary a lot with the type of Precision pickup being used, and the type of sound I get out of my various Js also varies with pickups. The tone can vary for MMs too, although there seem to be fewer after-market options, and even fewer for a G&L.
Click to expand...

That’s a testament to how good the G&L MFD pickups are. Nobody wants to switch them out, hence no aftermarket demand.
 
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#180
A-Ro said:
That’s a testament to how good the G&L MFD pickups are. Nobody wants to switch them out, hence no aftermarket demand.
Click to expand...

Or, G&L hasn't made enough of an impact in the market for major players like Seymour-Duncan, EMG, Dimarzio, etc... to bother making pickups for them... After all, Music Man is well known for outstanding electronics, yet there are aftermarket pickups available for them - just sayin'...
 

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