I've posited before that G&L marketing leaves a lot to be desired, and it does not help that there will be those who misinterpret the brand name as having something to do with a sexual minority.
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G&L Reset.....
- Thread starter BulbousMoses
- Start date
Chef
In Memoriam
Whether the instruments are great or not ultimately doesn't mean a lot to a retailer. What it comes down to is how fast can they turn the merchandise for a reasonable profit. G&L has ALWAYS been a hard sell. I was an original G&L dealer- from when the catalog offered an L-1000e which was never built; half of our first instruments from them had ebony fingerboards), and the two basses did pretty well (real well with the L-1000, the L-2000e was more expensive and had too many switches for most folks in the early '80s). Same as Guild, you gotta work to sell them. As rabid as I was for G&L and for Guilds, I knew it was work to sell them. And if you can sell and Fender looking thing without the hassle of really pushing folks, then that's the way things go.
Especially now that discretionary spending is highly curtailed, and local stores have severe constraints on profitability, a store just can't carry all the good stuff. So, if this dealer's had some concerns with overall quality of G&L, and he's got limited funds to invest in basses, and the Laklands look like they might generate more interest, then that's the way I'd go too.
I can't speak for G&L quality as I became jaundiced (and dropped 'em) way back when the Interceptor came out. Despite the advertising, I'm convinced that if Leo Fender thought a guitar with locking trem and hot humbuckers was going to be useful to his dealers, he'd have created a good locking trem and designed his own 'buckers. But when G&L introduces a guitar with a factory Kahler and Schaller humbuckers, Leo wasn't involved. The throw-backs to Fender instruments was another sign that Leo wasn't calling the shots (as he'd always maintained that his best designs were new ones), and then the horribly unbalanced ASAT bass was the final sign- Leo was always about things that worked first, and looks second. Ohh... sorry for the detour....
Anyway, I've not seen a new G&L in the last six years as none of the dealers around Central Illinois have maintained the line. That doesn't necessarily say anything at all about the instruments, but it does say a lot about the profitability of the line for a small dealer, and often speaks volumes of the business relationship a company has.
John
Especially now that discretionary spending is highly curtailed, and local stores have severe constraints on profitability, a store just can't carry all the good stuff. So, if this dealer's had some concerns with overall quality of G&L, and he's got limited funds to invest in basses, and the Laklands look like they might generate more interest, then that's the way I'd go too.
I can't speak for G&L quality as I became jaundiced (and dropped 'em) way back when the Interceptor came out. Despite the advertising, I'm convinced that if Leo Fender thought a guitar with locking trem and hot humbuckers was going to be useful to his dealers, he'd have created a good locking trem and designed his own 'buckers. But when G&L introduces a guitar with a factory Kahler and Schaller humbuckers, Leo wasn't involved. The throw-backs to Fender instruments was another sign that Leo wasn't calling the shots (as he'd always maintained that his best designs were new ones), and then the horribly unbalanced ASAT bass was the final sign- Leo was always about things that worked first, and looks second. Ohh... sorry for the detour....
Anyway, I've not seen a new G&L in the last six years as none of the dealers around Central Illinois have maintained the line. That doesn't necessarily say anything at all about the instruments, but it does say a lot about the profitability of the line for a small dealer, and often speaks volumes of the business relationship a company has.
John
hmmmmm...thats really a crying shame that the music world we live in knows very little about a G&L...tisk,tisk,tisk...the L2500 is one of the phatest, funkyest and smoothies 5s Ive heard and now own, and music stores just dont carry em I bought mines brand new and havent looked back
Interesting take. I notice that even Musician's Friend only carries a few models and they are a very big online retailer. I can relate to your experience with models that are easy to sell vs those that are not. I spent 10 years in retail (professional photography supplies) and it was similar in that retail genre. Nikon and Canon flew off the shelves effortlessly whereas Minolta/Pentax/Olympus was always a hard sell even though they had equivalent (and in some cases, better) models than the Nikon/Canon line.
With all due respect, that's nonsense. Of course Leo called the shots. He invented the pickups. He decided on pickup placement. He thought up (or approved) the model names/designations. etc. etc. George Fullerton pushed for the G-200 short scale dual humbucker Gibsonesque guitar and Leo (who was against the idea) relented, but later killed the model.
I can't imagine a scenario at G&L where there was a "man behind the curtain" pulling Leo's strings.
As for quality, fear not OP, the G&L line is one of the finest out there. The fact that they do not advertise the way the larger companies do shouldn't dissuade you from giving one a serious look.
I'm not dissuaded although I may now have to drive to Montreal to try one...luckily, Montreal is only 2 hours away. Can I buy direct from G&L from their website? That might be another option.
Somebody who's an active G&L dealer needs to step in here and let us in on any G&L "dealer policy" issues that might be at the root of this. I have heard that FMIC has minimum requirements for dealers, maybe G&L has some points that make dealers uncomfortable.
But a reflection on the QUALITY of the G&L instruments?...hogwash.
But a reflection on the QUALITY of the G&L instruments?...hogwash.
I find it kind of strange that all of the Canadian dealers seem to be one owner shops..no chains are carrying them...is that the same in the good old US of A?
Canadian retailers off the top my head:
Music Centre Canada: http://www.musiccentrecanada.com/ (only in Alberta)
Mothers music:http://www.mothersmusic.com/home.php (Closest would be Winnipeg)
St Johns Music: Invalid Link Removed (There's one in Ottawa!)
Not sure if that helps your situation much....
I think there is just not that big of a market for basses that don't either
a. Have a big recognizable name
or
b. Look metal
Anecdote alert:
A friend of mine worked for a while at one of the local retailers and was telling me how the majority of their guitar and bass sales consisted of the "metal" looking brands + practice amps purchased by parents for their kids. Rarely, a serious musician would roll through and pick up one of the nice G&L's, EBMM's or PRS guitars (they don't carry Fender). These "nicer" instruments only accounted for maybe 1 in 30 of the guitars/basses that went out the door.
I bought a Gorgeous and well priced G&L from them that had been hanging on the wall for well over a year!
There is another shop in town that has had a really nice SB-2 on the wall for 3 YEARS!
BTW this is in a city of 1.3 million.
Music Centre Canada: http://www.musiccentrecanada.com/ (only in Alberta)
Mothers music:http://www.mothersmusic.com/home.php (Closest would be Winnipeg)
St Johns Music: Invalid Link Removed (There's one in Ottawa!)
Not sure if that helps your situation much....
I think there is just not that big of a market for basses that don't either
a. Have a big recognizable name
or
b. Look metal
Anecdote alert:
A friend of mine worked for a while at one of the local retailers and was telling me how the majority of their guitar and bass sales consisted of the "metal" looking brands + practice amps purchased by parents for their kids. Rarely, a serious musician would roll through and pick up one of the nice G&L's, EBMM's or PRS guitars (they don't carry Fender). These "nicer" instruments only accounted for maybe 1 in 30 of the guitars/basses that went out the door.
I bought a Gorgeous and well priced G&L from them that had been hanging on the wall for well over a year!
There is another shop in town that has had a really nice SB-2 on the wall for 3 YEARS!
BTW this is in a city of 1.3 million.
I have close ties to a Musical Instrument distributor in Canada, who worked for many companies, including G&L.
This is his opinion of G&L : Top quality (US & Tributes), very long back orders on many models, horrible marketing, zero sales support, so-so communication.
As for me, I've tried and owned several G&L's (US & Tributes), and they are very good basses. Certainly worth the price. They certainly equal, perhaps surpass most bass companies in value for the money. But, being not very popular, have somewhat low resale value.
This is his opinion of G&L : Top quality (US & Tributes), very long back orders on many models, horrible marketing, zero sales support, so-so communication.
As for me, I've tried and owned several G&L's (US & Tributes), and they are very good basses. Certainly worth the price. They certainly equal, perhaps surpass most bass companies in value for the money. But, being not very popular, have somewhat low resale value.
Exactly. Not that G&L basses are above criticism. Many musicians are snowed by all the knobs and switches which tend to come loose and rotate around (which often gives you a great deal on a used one!) But if you know which end of a screwdriver is the handle, this is a killer bass. Leo made it as an ultimate refinement of his earlier basses. It is slightly strange (passive bass and treble controls for one, but it's the ONLY bass I know where EQ keeps working in passive mode). But I'd say a Fender is a G&L wannabe. Fenders do a basic thing. They do it well. G&L EXTENDS the range of what a bass can do using that same sort of vibe. I like to call them "Late period Leo". They are kind of quirky compared to your standard Fenders but once you figure out what they can do, you'll be amazed. And that goes for the Tributes too. The basic difference as far as I can tall (I own both) between Tribs and USA L-2500s (and I presume L-2000s) is that the USA versions have to-die-for wood. But while wood on tribs is a bit more iffy, the electronics are identical in both and fit etc. is excellent on both. If you want a bass that sort of has an "old-school" Fender feel to it but but You'd like it to have a bit more range of tone and a slightly more modern vibe. G&L is the one.
Their business sense, on the other hand truly sucks. Not just bad marketing, but these guys would not even tell me what model strings came on my new Tribute so I could get another set just like them, in spite of a tag indicating SIT as the string maker hanging on it. All emails were simply ignored. An actual snail mail letter was ignored as well. I guess the economy isn't bad enough yet for these clowns to get the message. You don't just ignore customers (especially one who just laid out several hundred bucks for one of your products) depending on if you like them or if you are in the mood to answer emails that day. Even a "go to hell" would have been better than no answers at all. Maybe if they keep it up they can run themselves out of business...and that would really be too bad because they are truly great basses.
Regarding resale on G&L basses, in my opinion the resale has gotten stronger. I watch ebay listings regularly and see used G&Ls bringing almost as much as some used Fenders. Of course, condition plays a huge factor but all things being equal, the G&Ls are getting stronger. Check out some posts. Also, there are not nearly as many used G&Ls as there are Fenders so maybe supply and demand comes into play here.
At any rate, I think it fair to say that if you choose to sell your G&L bass, and it wasn't used as an oar, you should be able to recover a reasonable amount.
At any rate, I think it fair to say that if you choose to sell your G&L bass, and it wasn't used as an oar, you should be able to recover a reasonable amount.
