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G&L?

#6
I could swear that bass has been discussed here on Talkbass before. It looks very familiar.

I'm not so sure it's just parts... with the disclaimer that I am far from being an expert on G&L products or anything else beyond brewing coffee, this instrument looks to have been built this way, (sensible or not) rather than modified into this state.

Again, I'm just observing pictures. The neck has 5 holes, the neck pocket has 5 holes. That's weird, but clearly intentional. Very clean rout too. The controls are arrayed to fit this weird-o-rama body shape too, and the control cavity isn't just hogged-out to fit... it appears to have been routed for these. It may be just a buncha' junk, but I don't see anything that makes me believe an amateur builder put it together. And if they did, they had a hella nicer shop than me. That sidejack must have taken some doing to rout and install. The neck alone is super nice. Woah. A bound ebony fingerboard. Sweet.

Soooo... what really happened here? Unfortunately there's no G&L to ask anymore.

*PS- good to see ya' @ErikP.Bass The old Tele is still squawkin' down here. Love that guitar.
 
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#7
jd56hawk

Thread 'You sure don't see something like this every day, and with G&L no longer making basses...'

G&L USA Custom Order 4 String Fretless Bass Guitar One Off 2000s 8.12Lbs Fullerton Red
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#8
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#9
EdwardofHuncote said:
I'm not so sure it's just parts... with the disclaimer that I am far from being an expert on G&L products or anything else beyond brewing coffee, this instrument looks to have been built this way, (sensible or not) rather than modified into this state.
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Just look at it for a min. G&L did a lot of stupid things. Thankfully this is not one of them. :D

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#10
OK, that is probably from someone's custom mod garage (whoever did that is pretty good), but.....

When a company or production plant closes down, there are often prototypes of ideas that never made it to market that get stashed in places that....are held onto with rational like "one day, we'll actually decide to do something different, so I'll keep this". Having worked for a company that got out of a couple product lines at various times, where we closed a big facility, I have seen things akin to this that would get sold off at those times. In the case of G&L, given that the whole thing shut down recently, it might not have been sold; it might have just walked out the door. Given how well it's executed (whether or not it's a good idea is completely separate from that), this could easily be that kind of thing.

There are a couple of things that make it not really my style, but I do kinda like it.
 
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#11
EdwardofHuncote said:
I'm not so sure it's just parts... with the disclaimer that I am far from being an expert on G&L products or anything else beyond brewing coffee, this instrument looks to have been built this way, (sensible or not) rather than modified into this state.

Again, I'm just observing pictures. The neck has 5 holes, the neck pocket has 5 holes. That's weird, but clearly intentional. Very clean rout too.
Click to expand...
It could be an initial styling prototype - made just to see if people would like the look - from the front (that control cavity cover is hideous). If the idea passed that hurdle (likely not in this case), later prototypes (for playing evaluations) would have reshaped the neck - there's no sense in having a 5 bolt neck, and then not taking the square corner off the back of the neck on the G side.
 
#12
metron said:
Just look at it for a min. G&L did a lot of stupid things. Thankfully this is not one of them. :D

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I did... I looked at it for while, (evidently a couple times now) before posting.

Like I said I'm not so sure, you guys are G&L experts. I've never owned one. I have worked on a few. It looks like some kind of experimental to me. I really don't care, not interested in it as something I would want. I do find it interesting.
 
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#13
EdwardofHuncote said:
*PS- good to see ya' @ErikP.Bass The old Tele is still squawkin' down here. Love that guitar.
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Nice to see you as well @EdwardofHuncote ! Glad to hear that you’ve still got that RW Tele. It’s a special guitar for sure.

@mouthmw Thanks for sharing the other thread. Definitely a few good laughs in there as well. I should have realized someone from TB must’ve bumped into it given the age of the listing.
 
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#14
ErikP.Bass said:
Nice to see you as well @EdwardofHuncote ! Glad to hear that you’ve still got that RW Tele. It’s a special guitar for sure.

@mouthmw Thanks for sharing the other thread. Definitely a few good laughs in there as well.
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Yessir, I saved the original white one, but I found a source for a nice bakelite ''Blackguard" for it. Everyone who plays that thing is blown away with those Sheptone pickups Jim put in it. I eventually sold both other Telecaster guitars. That one does it all! I need to take some new pictures of it. 📷
 
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#15
My 83' G&L L2k has stainless frets, which was always a bit of a mystery to me, as I bought it brand new in 1983, and AFAIK, that was not a standard option. I always suspected it was a special order that somebody returned. If so, they must not have even played it, the finish was immaculate when I got it, and those frets are still going strong 43 years later. And.....yeah, I think that's somebody's home-brew parts bass, never saw a G&L like that. Looks a little like what Geddy did to his Jazz bass, not my Cup of Tea.
 

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