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G&L Basses - Why no love?

#202
58kites said:
Which is usually based on a Fender preference because it's a standard that has been there since many here were born, so it looks normal, which equals right.
How goofy do you think Fender products looked to musicians, when what had come before were traditional Gibson, D'Angelico, Epiphone shapes?
Their instruments had classic looking finishes reminiscent of violins, beautiful block inlays, bound bodies, bound necks, inlaid logos, very traditional shapes.
The Broadcaster, Telecaster, Stratocaster, and especially the Jazz bass shapes probably looked ridiculous to the musicians who grew up playing 30's, 40's and 50's instruments, and then Fender chose to paint them all kinds of Crayola colors taken from car companies.
The early detractors said they were ugly cowboy guitars for country bumkin music.
Country music players were the audience that Leo originally marketed to.
For all practical purposes, the G&L stuff looks so close to Fender, they could be from the same company, if you didn't know better.
If you look at the Fender headstock from a neutral point of view, it's a weird shape., we are all just very used to it.
The G&L headstock shape could easily have been the standard that Leo did and it would be the one that gets compared to all others.
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I agree with you all the way to the final sentence - the Fender headstock is a stronger design (though indeed VERY weird on first take), the G&L headstock is not as strong visually - though we are talking degrees here - the sharp corner and reverse curve of the bottom bought just work aesthetically and in place seem to have a visual purpose.
Similarly, the Tele headstock is entirely functional - it is really just a platform for the tuners with a curved end and a "bump" in the middle standing in for a real design.
Not only is the "standard" Fender headstock a better design than all the ones that grow from it - but it is also stronger than the ones which preceded it - ie the Bigsby and Martin/Stauffer desgins which influenced it. The Bigsby is NEARLY there- but that notch in the rondel (sp?) makes it weirdly gothic or baroque looking, the Stauffer is graceful, but weak, both visually and structurally.
 
#203
StrangerDanger said:
The point of the thread is why isn't G&L more popular. You attempted to make a point and I made a counterpoint. It's how this works. If you're going to get all twisted up and insulty over it because I've never heard of your favorite band then that says more about you than it does me. Good luck!
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I'm actually not a big fan of G&L or the band Red Fang. The OP said there is a lack of support from pro artist. Aaron Beam of Red Fang is a pro artist signed on a major label. I don't see how there's a counterpoint? Your response was juvenile sarcasm at best. And a pretty lame one too..lol
 
#204
rujulian said:
I'm actually not a big fan of G&L or the band Red Fang. The OP said there is a lack of support from pro artist. Aaron Beam of Red Fang is a pro artist signed on a major label. I don't see how there's a counterpoint? Your response was juvenile sarcasm at best. And a pretty lame one too..lol
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What major label are they signed to, again??
 
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#205
SanDiegoHarry said:
I have one that I'll be selling shortly.
Why?
It's a 5 and the neck is just not wide enough for my fingers. Build quality is great, sounds great, looks great but it just doesn't work for me.

Behold my for sale thread:

For Sale - G&L USA L2500 - Crazy Blonde Quilt maple custom shop
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what finish is that? looks like the same piece of quilt.... 742210_364476a50db35a76b872fb455563e291.jpg
 
#210
Got a minute?

I bought a new SB-2 a couple years ago. Built to order to the specs i wanted. Forget how long I waited - 3 months maybe, nothing crazy.
Sounded awsome, played awsome, looked awsome.
However he open D rattled like h&^* and the trust rod was not accessible - it was as if the cavity in the neck was routed to deep and offset from the access hole in the headstock which meant it was impossible to get the Allen wrench into it to make adjustments.
Sent it back to the retailer and asked for a new neck as I did not want a brand new bass with a patch job done on it.
Got the bass back a couple months later - the D string still rattled which made me to believe it was the same neck. Then I noticed a crack in the body at the heel joint (there was no packing in the case).
To complicate things i live in canada and bought it out of the US and am not home a lot so ship the thing was a real pain for me.
By this time I'm frustrated and know I will get no enjoyment out of this instrument so I returned it for a refund - retailer seemed like they didn't really care and I never heard from G&L. It was as if they were releaved they could write it off as "damaged during shipping". Fought with UPS for get my duty ($300) back for the instrument - retailer said they couldn't help me. Got ticked of and said screw it so I was out $300, had no bass, and no pactince left.
That's why i have no love for G&L.
I want to but cannot support them after that mess.
You've been warned.
 
#211
BassVibes said:
I recently purchased a G & L ASAT Semi Hollowbody and have spent a lot of time finding out about them. What I have found is that of all of Leo's creations have been a massive success, but with the exception of the G & L brand. No matter what model you take they seem to lack appeal to both well known artists and pros alike. They look pretty cool (mine being no exception), the build quality is amazing, the sound though lacks a perceived signature and I think this is where the problem lies. Is it because no artist has taken a G&L and recorded with it that has caused the perceived lack of sound signature or is it that the sound is so characterless that it fails to attract - who knows?? They have been around a few decades now so the situation is unlikely to change. Personally speaking, I have had Fenders, Rics, Yamahas which I can identify a sound mainly because I can relate it to songs I know, but with G&L and am left confused as to whether is has a signature sound at all.
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#212
BlueMINI said:
Terrible, horrible, nasty looking things....
View attachment 1113259
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Well....one of them is pretty horrible. :D
.
.
SanDiegoHarry said:
You mean top-end Fenders? Those?
Pretty amazing - the top end of a huge company like Fender and they use fake wood. What were they *thinking*?
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I was not aware Fender did it..!
I guess I got tired of the look pretty quickly.
Aesthetics on instruments is such an individual thing, half the time I don't know why I love the look of one instrument so much more than another.
Well, sometimes it's pretty obvious. :woot:
 
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#213
BassVibes said:
I recently purchased a G & L ASAT Semi Hollowbody and have spent a lot of time finding out about them. What I have found is that of all of Leo's creations have been a massive success, but with the exception of the G & L brand. No matter what model you take they seem to lack appeal to both well known artists and pros alike. They look pretty cool (mine being no exception), the build quality is amazing, the sound though lacks a perceived signature and I think this is where the problem lies. Is it because no artist has taken a G&L and recorded with it that has caused the perceived lack of sound signature or is it that the sound is so characterless that it fails to attract - who knows?? They have been around a few decades now so the situation is unlikely to change. Personally speaking, I have had Fenders, Rics, Yamahas which I can identify a sound mainly because I can relate it to songs I know, but with G&L and am left confused as to whether is has a signature sound at all.
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#214
rujulian said:
My bad. They are on Relapse records which is independent. I remember reading Ross Robinson produced their last album which for some reason lead me to assume they were signed to a major label. None the less they are still a "pro" band in the fact that they release original material,tour, sell merchandise.
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And, given that their biggest claim to fame is hitting #66 on the Billboard top 200 over 6 years ago....and that they are a sludge band.....it's not unreasonable to believe that very few people have heard of them, right?
 
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#216
58kites said:
Well....one of them is pretty horrible. :D
I was not aware Fender did it as well! Aesthetics on instruments is such an individual thing, half the time I don't know why I love the look of one so much more than another.
Well, sometimes it's pretty obvious with some. :woot:
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Fender called it "Foto Flame" - it was just them being cheap - but with their premier products - that's just strange. And there are clubs of proud owners (???).

Makes me wonder if there's a AMC Gremlin owners club. :vomit::vomit::vomit::vomit::vomit::vomit:
 
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#218
Speaking from experience, the Tribute L2000 is an overpriced sub quality, poor QC, uncomfortable bass.

I owned a USA 5 string back in 89-91. It was ok.

As far as the rest of the line, I can't comment and certainly wouldn't trash them because of my poor experience with the Tribute model I returned three different times to an online retailer.
 

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