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Why aren't G&L basses more popular?

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#381
For me, the G&L product is the Ultimate guitar/bass made. I have a USA SB2 and I am awaiting a 30th Anniversary L-2000 bass. Hope to have it by April some time. I hope to get either a JB or JB 2 in the future along with a pre-owned L1K. Maybe a 15K also. I Like the point on the HeadStock. Its un-mistakenly a G&L bass.

The saddle lock bridge design is what had me look into the G&L first of all. The fact that Leo Fender Built G&L also has me hooked. As they used to say, "The Real Fender".
 
#382
delta7fred said:
As far as basses go I have a 62P, two MMs, 2 G&Ls and a few others. I don't really care which one I play at rehearsals, although I always take my G&L L-2500 to gigs. for individual practice I use a well modified P copy that cost me £55.

I like the teardrop pick guard on the MM 4 string, but hate the look of the SR5 that to me looks more like an ornamental pond.
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I don't like the SR5 either to be honest with you, partly because of the pickguard and also the chamfered cutaways. But it's a child of the '80s though isn't it, it's just out of fashion, I remember thinking they looked cool when I was a teenager. ;)

FWIW my main bass is a Thumb, and it's a pretty under-decorated bass, but the body shape is interesting in itself because it curves in every direction and it's also very small-bodied so it doesn't need much in the way of decoration compared to most basses. Although I think the earliest models with the one-piece bridge don't look as good.

Ultimately all this is objective and I didn't think I would start a flame war by saying G&Ls look plain, but I do think it's a big part of why they don't sell a lot of them. I would be interested to find out if they get used more in studios than they do on stages, I would imagine they do, and it would support the under-designed argument.
 
#384
kevteop said:
...... I didn't think I would start a flame war by saying G&Ls look plain,......
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You have got to be so careful on TB, what to you may sound perfectly innocuous can really get up someone else's nose. One post that I read a while ago and thought nothing of was interpreted as being rude and inflammatory and the flame war that ensued ended in the thread being locked.

Life is too short for flame wars.
 
#385
Soooo in short G&L isn't more popular primarily because:

1. Marketing or lack of
2. Exposure, not enough of them out there
3. Many bass players judge with their eyes not their ears

;):D
 
#388
george.c. said:
you can build the best product in the world but you better match it with an equally good name.g&l just sounds like a cheap korean knock off.imagine if a ferrari was called a datsun or something or other...the name must match the product.it's lesson 1 in marketing for dummies...even more so when it's a quality product..
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G & L...it does remind me of "J & H Productions".

For those who've never had the pleasure:

http://blogfiles.wfmu.org/DP/2003/09/365-Days-Project-09-15-j-and-h-productions-tape.mp3
 
#390
bb25002.jpg

bb25001.jpg

bb25003.jpg
 
#392
no one around me carries them regularly.
ive seen a guitar shop that had one in there used section, and i liked it.
if i was able to get some more experience with them i probably would end up buying one.
just dont have the opportunity.
 
#396
Im pretty much repeating what everyone has said but I thought I would add my 2 cents in anyways. Ive been using a JB-2 as my primary (and ONLY) bass for about 12 years and i still get compliments on my sound. This is a bass that I will absolutely never sell. I bought it when I was about 14 and I still remember the guy at the store telling me: "Unless you get as famous as The Rolling Stones, you will never need another bass." That still has not changed, despite some slight improvements in my playing abilities in the last few years
 
#397
g&lplayer said:
Im pretty much repeating what everyone has said but I thought I would add my 2 cents in anyways. Ive been using a JB-2 as my primary (and ONLY) bass for about 12 years and i still get compliments on my sound. This is a bass that I will absolutely never sell. I bought it when I was about 14 and I still remember the guy at the store telling me: "Unless you get as famous as The Rolling Stones, you will never need another bass." That still has not changed, despite some slight improvements in my playing abilities in the last few years
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It must be a rare prototype. ;)
 
#398
I'm getting ready to start experimenting with replacement pickups on my JB2's, although the stock ones have done just fine in nailing the J sound. I am looking for a wee bit more low mid girth, and thinking that Basslines Quarter Pounders are the less-expensive experiment, before Nordy hum-cancelling stacks.
 
#400
plankspanker13 said:
I'm getting ready to start experimenting with replacement pickups on my JB2's, although the stock ones have done just fine in nailing the J sound. I am looking for a wee bit more low mid girth, and thinking that Basslines Quarter Pounders are the less-expensive experiment, before Nordy hum-cancelling stacks.
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Ummmm... OK, but you don't buy a G&L to replace the pickups - you buy it largely FOR the unique pickups. At least, I would be.

I'm sure someone will be STOKED to buy your handmedowns though
 
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