G&L Club Part 7

[Spidey2112]

Venturing out on a limb to say most reading the negatives regarding G&L's QC would find it just that... negative.

IMO, they are, and have been, so close to becoming a dominant force in the instrument fabrication arena, even worldwide.

But, when the negatives described above, and elsewhere, seem to fall on deaf ears, where they are ignored to the point of, 'Meh, good enough.'...

... that's when they sell even more.

Definitely, a weird business model, but I guess it's working for them.

It's gotta be the finishes.

 

[Spidey2112]

I'll try my luck.

5% royalty, for the suggestion... just saying.

 

[svtbass]

Though I am a fan of DIY, I'd much rather purchase the parts somewhere, if I can. Knowing my track record with DIY, it would end up looking good from far, but far from good.

You will never find wrinkle hardware for sale. Every few years when any comes up it's gone in a heartbeat. You could swap them out for chrome and flip the other bass although I'm unaware of such things.

 

[ProbablyTooLoud]

5% royalty, for the suggestion... just saying.

I'll pay you placing the option order of your choice.

 

[Robert Booker]

Knobs aside (see: genetics), my SB-2T (Spanish Copper Metallic) is getting the nod for our next gig, February 3rd. Plenty of practice, rehearsal time but zero gigs for it, so far.

View attachment 4927593

Looking forward to playing it in a live setting, for sure.

Classy look. Not the same by any stretch but it's somewhat similar to my Irish Ale/Maple neck combination. It now has that blood, sweat, and toil vintage pearl pickguard too.....LOL. I really like the body style of the SB and Kilo models they seem to balance really well and at least mine is lighter than all of my other basses by at least half a pound or more.

What strings did you decide on for this one? Anxious for you to get around to doing a live gig with it. I'm hoping for the same this year. After a too long layoff it's feels like it's time to play live again. Best of luck to both of us eh?

 

[Spidey2112]

I'll pay you placing the option order of your choice.

Bwawaahaha! Pizza and beer for a year, thank you!

 

[Spidey2112]

What strings did you decide on for this one? Anxious for you to get around to doing a live gig with it. I'm hoping for the same this year. After a too long layoff it's feels like it's time to play live again. Best of luck to both of us eh?

Of course! Haven't made a final decision on strings for it, yet (DRs or GHS). The original strings have been on there for awhile, and I think they still have some zing to them... I'd like to try the original strings live, before moving on...

... cause I'm cheap. Lol!

 

[Robert Booker]

I'd be curious to know the actual volume of basses G&L churns out every year/month/day but I genuinely doubt it's "tens a day". Their workshop looks small.

They're working out of the buildings Leo built years ago so if I'm not mistaken there are quite a few separate "stalls" being used for fabrication not one large single structure. That alone may contribute to some of their inefficiency since it was never designed for higher volume production. It's like if you were working on car where the engine was in one garage, the frame in another, and the body itself in a third garage. But I've never seen it in person so I may be incorrect.

As for volume I have to believe now that they have global dealers like Sweetwater and Andertons on board along with the others like GC, MF, AMS, zZounds, etc and their smaller dealer network their overall volume of US builds isn't insignificant. But being privately owned we're unlikely to ever know the real story behind dollar and unit sales and profitability. As with the parent owners BBE there isn't a whole lot out there to look through.

 

[Jim C]

I've been very happy with DR Sunbeams strings on my US JB & JB2 Tribute.
Did not love them on the SB2 and used XL's.

 

[Robert Booker]

Of course! Haven't made a final decision on strings for it, yet (DRs or GHS). The original strings have been on there for awhile, and I think they still have some zing to them... I'd like to try the original strings live, before moving on...

... cause I'm cheap. Lol!

Cheap is good.....and necessary. We don't get paid all that well if at all any longer unless we're in the private gigs circuit. Then we can get paid very well if we can book often enough.

I know what you mean about decisions on strings. I kept rounds on my M2000 because with the active 3 band EQ I have plenty of tonal range to take the "edge" off them that I don't have with other passive basses that work better with the PWounds. Plus like having one bass with thumpy old flats I figure at least one bass should have rounds so there's Lo Riders on the M2000.

 

[Jim C]

As with the parent owners BBE there isn't a whole lot out there to look through.

You may ask yourself, how could a parent company like BBE allow the poor business practices of G&L?
Could it be because the Chairman and CEO of BBE is named John McLaren? Back to that company culture thing.

Such a shame as some of the basses that leave the factory are awesome.

 

[Robert Booker]

You may ask yourself, how could a parent company like BBE allow the poor business practices of G&L?
Could it be because the Chairman and CEO of BBE is named John McLaren? Back to that company culture thing.

Such a shame as some of the basses that leave the factory are awesome.

Exactly and while I believe Leo may have made the right decision having John Sr. take the reins of G&L it's pretty clear that by default Davie is now in charge with possible help from John Jr. As far as I'm concerned both companies are a bit of a riddle wrapped in an enigma.

BBE doesn't appear to be very innovative either. Elsewhere we've covered their latest TS clone and the new version of their sonic maximizer few seem to find all that much use for so where does BBE makes it's money? Must be on studio gear because I sure don't see it much on stages I've played on. But somehow both companies seem to thrive.

 

[Nedmundo]

As for volume I have to believe now that they have global dealers like Sweetwater and Andertons on board along with the others like GC, MF, AMS, zZounds, etc and their smaller dealer network their overall volume of US builds isn't insignificant. But being privately owned we're unlikely to ever know the real story behind dollar and unit sales and profitability. As with the parent owners BBE there isn't a whole lot out there to look through.

Yes, and they've increased their USA volume with the Fullerton Deluxe line, which are standardized and built in batches like regular production basses. Those are ideal for GC, MF, etc., and they appear to be a good value.

I've been very happy with DR Sunbeams strings on my US JB & JB2 Tribute.
Did not love them on the SB2 and used XL's.

I've also used Sunbeams on a J-bass (my Fender, not my G&L JB), and thought they were great. Because that bass was eventually relegated to rehearsal duty, I kept the Sunbeams on well past their prime, as I discovered when I finally replaced them a month ago. Wow. (I think DR Pure Blues are similar to the Sunbeams, and they sounded amazing on my JB-5.)

For my SB-2, I love DR Fat Beams. I also like my SB-2's current strings, but I can't remember whether they're Sadowskys or Foderas. Both are great, because my JB has the other set of these two, and its strings are similarly excellent.

 

[jfh2424]

All G&L would need to do to resolve 95% of the issues in this thread is to hire a person to play the guitar/bass and check the build sheet before they ship it out. That's it. It's not complicated.

They would save so much money with this. And save us so much frustration.

How can we expect groundbreaking innovations from a company that can't figure out this basic, simple business concept?

It doesn't really matter how nice or not nice Memo and all those other guys are. If they just hired that one person, we would not need to know Memo or any of those guys, period. More importantly, those guys could simply work at producing quality instruments, as opposed to placating us.

 

[User3734584]

All G&L would need to do to resolve 95% of the issues in this thread is to hire a person to play the guitar/bass and check the build sheet before they ship it out. That's it. It's not complicated.

They would save so much money with this. And save us so much frustration.

How can we expect groundbreaking innovations from a company that can't figure out this basic, simple business concept?

It doesn't really matter how nice or not nice Memo and all those other guys are. If they just hired that one person, we would not need to know Memo or any of those guys, period. More importantly, those guys could simply work at producing quality instruments, as opposed to placating us.

100%!

 

[Spidey2112]

Nothing against Memo, but one guy can't and shouldn't do it all, whether or not he got the memo.

 

[Robert Booker]

All G&L would need to do to resolve 95% of the issues in this thread is to hire a person to play the guitar/bass and check the build sheet before they ship it out. That's it. It's not complicated.

They would save so much money with this. And save us so much frustration.

How can we expect groundbreaking innovations from a company that can't figure out this basic, simple business concept?

It doesn't really matter how nice or not nice Memo and all those other guys are. If they just hired that one person, we would not need to know Memo or any of those guys, period. More importantly, those guys could simply work at producing quality instruments, as opposed to placating us.

Ah yes, I agree 100% and would gladly stand in line for the job but doing it would require some kind of common sense G&L for whatever reason seems to resist.

 

[metron]

Late 90s SB2

 

[TDR1138]

I've been very happy with DR Sunbeams strings on my US JB & JB2 Tribute.
Did not love them on the SB2 and used XL's.

For my SB-2, I love DR Fat Beams. I also like my SB-2's current strings, but I can't remember whether they're Sadowskys or Foderas. Both are great, because my JB has the other set of these two, and its strings are similarly excellent.

Coincidentally, I almost ordered some Sunbeams for my SB-2T just the other day. Would love to know what you didn't like about them on the SB. I do have some Fat Beams in my stash, somewhere, so maybe I'll try those.

 

[Holdsg]

I'd almost do the QC job for gas money. Almost as good as my gig proceeds these days.


Employee discount. Natch.