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G&L Club Part 7

Wow!! That is gorgeous!
I do not understand how/why G&L is making these mistakes on Option Order basses! I'm glad they are making it right, but holy cow, they need to do better for their top tier customers!

Thanks, I love it!

I was a little frustrated at first but the dealer and G&L immediately said they'd make it right and got a new neck into production. That's all that I can really ask for, honestly.
 
My new LB-100! Lake Placid Blue with matching headstock. Love it so far! Only issue is G&L didn't send me the quartersawn neck like I ordered but a replacement is on its way.

View attachment 4823297

You sure about that? Looks like it might be quartersawn to me, not seeing any runout grain or really any typical flatsawn grain. Looks same as my two with 1/4 sawn necks. Got a pic of the headstock end and back? G&L doesn't always list it on the build sheets, which in itself is kinda weird. Curious minds 'n all...

Oh, and nice choice on the matching headstock...beautiful finish for sure. :thumbsup:
 
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View attachment 4823296
My new LB-100! Lake Placid Blue with matching headstock. Love it so far! Only issue is G&L didn't send me the quartersawn neck like I ordered but a replacement is on its way.

View attachment 4823297

Amazing. Does G&L believe a buyer won't notice and just accept what was sent? Do they count on the odds that if they send out ten without the neck ordered only two or three will ever be rejected?
 
You sure about that? Looks like it might be quartersawn to me, not seeing any runout grain or really any typical flatsawn grain. Looks same as my two with 1/4 sawn necks. Got a pic of the headstock end and back? G&L doesn't always list it on the build sheets, which in itself is kinda weird. Curious minds 'n all...

Oh, and nice choice on the matching headstock...beautiful finish for sure. :thumbsup:

I'll grab a pic as you requested. I hope I didn't make them build a new neck for nothing. I sent the pics to the dealer too and they didn't say anything back. Hoping I didn't mess up
 
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My 2022 gold SB-1 missed "quartersawn" from the spec sheet, but was indeed quartersawn

20220704_203806.jpg


My 2020 pink SB-1 had to be returned for its quartersawn neck, and that took 3 months (turning it into a 2021 SB-1?)
 
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I'll grab a pic as you requested. I hope I didn't make them build a new neck for nothing. I sent the pics to the dealer too and they didn't say anything back. Hoping I didn't mess up

Does your build sheet specify quartersawn?

If anyone wants, I can post pics of 1/4 sawn G&L necks, and an accompanying build sheet that shows it, and one that doesn't.

Yeah post some headstock pics, maybe save yourself a headache.
 
I'll grab a pic as you requested. I hope I didn't make them build a new neck for nothing. I sent the pics to the dealer too and they didn't say anything back. Hoping I didn't mess up

Others will chime in on this neck business, too. If your neck turns out to be 1/4 sawn, but it's not specified on the sheet, then all G&L has to do is make a new, correct sheet.

God forbid they want you to return the bass for a new neck job for no reason. :eyebrow:
 
I have no doubt they always make it right and have my own experience to verify that but it never answers the questions of why they consistently make these same mistakes.
It's true these same mistakes keep happening. One of the consequences that we the customers suffer because of that is longer build times because they're spending time fixing mistakes. Getting things right the first time is a key to efficiency.
 
When I pointed out the lack of the word "quartersawn" on my spec sheet — following a panicked 5 minutes comparing my neck to online photos — G&L produced a new, corrected spec sheet.

I suspect a more accurate reflection of the specs of the materials and work done than the spec sheet is the list of codes on the invoice sent to the dealer.
 
View attachment 4823296
My new LB-100! Lake Placid Blue with matching headstock. Love it so far! Only issue is G&L didn't send me the quartersawn neck like I ordered but a replacement is on its way.

View attachment 4823297

If you look at the wood grain, especially around the headstock, it looks very much like a quartersawn cut. My LB-100 has a quartersawn neck as per my order, I can post a photo later as well as one of the specs sheet to compare too.
 
spec sheet just says a maple neck. No mention of quartersawn which is what threw me off

With G&L, what is written on the build sheet and what is built and what is actually ordered is really unconsequential. I honestly think that what we order is like some sort of loose idea of what is wanted, they interpret it as some kind of guess of what they should be doing.

I think it also depends on what they happen to have on-hand. If you don't specify quartersawn, but your bass is finished and they have a quatersawn, they'll slap it on and move on. And the same thing in reverse. I have no proof of this, but this kind of neck issue thing has happened so often.

It's not like the difference between quartersawn and not is that difficult to decipher for a shop that builds basses. And then no one checks the build sheet and the bass together before they send it, which is really mind blowing. But this is what happens. Others can say that it's not true, it doesn't happen, whatever. But clearly this stuff happens.

Just think of the money they could save by simply having someone check the order sheet, the build sheet and the bass before it leaves the shop, to make sure that all this is actually the same thing. Even if they don't really care about customers, you would think that they care about the money they are wasting by not doing this. But they don't.

It's really mindblowing that a company works this way. I think it also speaks about how great their products are. We still clamour for them, because when they are done right, they are amazing. I guess this is their saving grace. That's how they survive.
 
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You said it very well. When they're properly built, G&Ls are incredible instruments for value (Music Man prices anyone?).

But they're clearly lacking in terms of QC. If 9 out of 10 instruments are outstanding and 1 is poorly made, it casts a bad image on the brand. Yes, we'll all rave about the amazingly built ones but that 1 bad seed will leave a sour taste for whoever ends up getting it.

It really sounds like G&L is badly managed and it's a shame.
 
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It's true these same mistakes keep happening. One of the consequences that we the customers suffer because of that is longer build times because they're spending time fixing mistakes. Getting things right the first time is a key to efficiency.

Agreed but apparently not at G&L where job #1 is how to produce enough videos featuring Davie Boy McClaren to keep him happy and away from the production floor. Some days I swear that if G&L was in the home building business the home would have a kitchen sink in the bathroom and crapper where the stove should be. :banghead:
 
I have two custom option G&Ls (one I bought in 2019 and the other just now). So far, they seem well built except the fret ends on the '19 aren't done that well.

As far as I can tell, both are well-built but I guess you never know for sure until some time has passed and they've been played a fair amount. Even tho they aren't insanely expensive, I paid a little over $2k for this most recent one.