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G&L out of business?
- Thread starter 1SmartJosh
- Start date
D
It's sad to see a respected bass manufacturer struggling.
It has to be said though, they haven't exactly done a great job with their marketing and distribution. At least not outside the US. In my country there has never been a single G&L dealer as far as I know. I can't even remember seeing any dealers in the whole of Europe who have offered more than a very limited selection of G&L's lowest priced, Asian-made models. What would Fender be if they only managed to sell a very limited number of Squiers outside the US? Maybe a good European G&L dealer exists, but if it does they've certainly managed to keep it a well kept secret. The seemingly impressive list of international dealers on their website is just nonsens. For example, the listed dealer for my country is in a different country, and not even one that's even remotely close.
It has to be said though, they haven't exactly done a great job with their marketing and distribution. At least not outside the US. In my country there has never been a single G&L dealer as far as I know. I can't even remember seeing any dealers in the whole of Europe who have offered more than a very limited selection of G&L's lowest priced, Asian-made models. What would Fender be if they only managed to sell a very limited number of Squiers outside the US? Maybe a good European G&L dealer exists, but if it does they've certainly managed to keep it a well kept secret. The seemingly impressive list of international dealers on their website is just nonsens. For example, the listed dealer for my country is in a different country, and not even one that's even remotely close.
They still do.
There are two brand new Fullertons (i.e., Tele guitars) at a GC I visited a few weeks ago. One red flake and one blue flake. Stunning guitars.
Possibly the prettiest guitar paint jobs I have ever seen, which is a big reason I considered ordering a fretless from them.
The weight depends on what series you were looking at. I noticed G&L close to 20 years ago, and wanted one of their USA built (now the BTO series) LB100s. I opted for the "Empress' body option and it was under 7 1/2 pounds. That's the choice for body wood for all the G&Ls I've ordered. I had one LB100 that weighed 6.7 pounds, should have kept that one. My current LB100 (see photos) weighs 7.3 pounds and is a keeper.
Edit: Over the same 20 or so years, I wanted to buy a Fender, but never could find one in these weight ranges and not with the choice of a jazz width neck, unless I wanted to fork over double the price for Custom Shop. And even then, it wouldn't hit this weight.
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We will have to agree to disagree. Their current flake jobs are by no means terrible, but they're nothing compared to what they used to be.
Yes great point. Although I'm wondering if they get around this by using distributors as middlemen, or if that even matters
In the unlikely event that distributors were tasked by Fender to demand exclusivity to certain retailers and not others there would be no legal protection for Fender as the distributors would be acting as Fender's agents, at their direction. And if there were a lawsuit or investigation against distributors they'd immediately reveal that information to (legitimately) escape any penalty.
According to the shop owner I've known for over 40 years that's exactly what happened. This was in the very early 2000's so no idea what transpired since.
My local shop fired Fender and kept G&L. Lol
Wow, nice one! I have a Kiloton V I got as a "blem" though the dealer and I couldn't find anything wrong with it (allegedly a shallow pickup route but it seems totally to spec). Was a custom order in Butterscotch Blonde/Ash/Maple which I've never seen elsewhere. We should hang onto our Kilos - they might become "rare"....
Marty Bell was the best. I had him paint 3 of my L2500's. A gold metal flake, a silver metal flake, and a silver with blue flames. Marty is a great guy but his vision is failing.
I went by G&L today as I had to get some material from my buddy's machine shop across the parking lot from G&L. Only a couple of cars in their parking lot.
The first office on the left was Memo's
Jerry Cantrell is the only G&L guy that comes to mind without Googling. Pretty bad for a company that's been around that long. Hell, I can name a dozen Hamer players! If they stay open they really need to improve their marketing. Carvin did it. They can do it.
My buddy on the other side of the parking lot from G&L was told that Fender is taking them over. But it still could be hearsay.
