tbonesullivan

Honestly I only like the stuff from their first two albums... because I'm an MTV kid. I had that stuff hard written into my brain as a kid. That and Rush's Moving Pictures.

He really does. And he also owns Bernard Edwards Stingray Bass. Taylor was really influenced by the stuff Chic did, and worked with a few members, including Edwards and later Nile Rodgers. I still want to pick up a 4 string stingray and throw some GHS Brite Flats on it to see if I can get that sound.

YES. I also have to say that the song they did with Olivia Newton-John for the Xanadu soundtrack is pretty dang good, even if they didn't write it. Now I go back to RE listening to most of my favorite Duran Duran songs after finally noticing how great the bass lines are.

I guess also titled, is there anyone who ISN'T friends with Randy Newman? I mean, "I Love L.A." by Randy Newman is really REALLY Good. Yes, it's a comedy song, probably most famously remembered for the montage in the first "Naked Gun" movie, but aside from that, it's a fantastic example of 1980s production, and the list of people playing on it is incredible. It also might have my Favorite Steve Lukather Solo. Ever. And drums by Jeff Porcaro? Anyway, what are some examples of songs that you might have dismissed at first, but then realized were incredible?

Looks like mahogany. Cherry over maple should be quite a bit lighter.

Yes, and watching Syd Barrett unravel had a profound effect on him and the rest of the band, as well as their songwriting. Roger had first met Syd at an art class a few years before they turned ten years old. David Gilmour met Syd a few years after that. They all got a front row seat to the mental illness show, and it sucked.

"Remember when you were young? You shone like the Sun Now there's a look in your eyes Like black holes in the sky You were caught in the crossfire of childhood and stardom Blown on the steel breeze Come on, you target for faraway laughter Come on, you stranger, you legend, you martyr, and shine"

I heard about that, hopefully they are able to complete it without Reiner. In other news, I am seeing reports that Nick Reiner was diagnosed with Schizophrenia weeks before the murder, and was having issues with his meds, which is probably why his parents were keeping close tabs on him.

Just got around to watching Spinal Tap II, which I guess is now his final film. Was it as good as the original? IMHO, no, but it was still great.

I will say, Tina got a freakin awesome sound out of that bass. Perfect for that song. Sadly short scale basses are often completely overlooked, even though there were some really nice designs. Marketing fail for Hofner I guess, but then again it's hard to fight the Fender Bass Supremacy Syndrome

Jeez, I was just curious to see what their actual product line was and their website now literally redirects to the article about going bankrupt on guitar.com. Most of my knowledge about Höfner actually comes from their association with Carvin Musical Instruments in the 1970s and early 1980s, when they made necks, bodies, and semi-hollow bodies for Carvin, who finished and assembled them stateside. I think they rode the McCartney connection for so long that they forgot how to do anything else. Did they ever make a long scale violin bass, or something more appealing to non-Beatles fans?

Yes, that is EXACTLY what they have tapped into. They are pretty much making "custom shop reissues" of specific pickups, wound on original machines. I remember when they still had yet to purchase "slug 1" from the old Gibson factory where Heritage guitars was at the time. Now they've got it and everyone can buy the "magic" of it, or whatever. I'll stick with my Seth Lovers thanks.

The amount of money they get for those pickups is pretty insane. People at the Heritage forum were in love with them years ago, before their prices ballooned. But with people willing to pay out the nose for things like "artisan aged" guitars, they have a market of people ready to pay through the nose for pickups that are "more original" than anyone else makes. They also make a pretty huge number of minute variations on the original PAF designs, with lots of magnet choices, and even make "pre T-top" and "T-Top" replicas that probably cost more than the actual thing. Sorry but I'll stick with something more simple like Lollar Imperials or DImarzio 36th Anniversary PAFs. My ears can't tell the subtle differences between a long and a short Alnico 2 magnet.

Here's a funny tidbit: Every time I hear Aretha Franklin's "Think" on the radio, or at a sports game, it's the Blues Brothers version. It is just less produced and more energetic, IMHO. I have a lot of the DVD / BluRay stuff from the Blues Brothers, and Cropper talked about when he got "the call" about the concept. He wasn't really sure it sounded like something he wanted to do. At the time he was doing A&R, working with a guitarist, and either got the call at that time, or told him about it, and when he heard that Cropper might not do it he said "well I'll do it!". If his talent was ready to drop everything and do it, he said should probably do it. I mean, before the movie there was the concept itself and other things, and the original band was put together in 1978 or so. Getting a call about two comedians in New York who wanted to put together a backing band for a blues project wasn't exactly something most people would even think about or take super seriously.

Those are NICE, but not cheap. I mean, the shield itself isn't expensive, but it needs it's own boom arm to hold it in place. Excessive on stage sound has always been an issue, and unfortunately there's no volume control for cymbals if you want that sound. They are just gonna be loud.

Oh wow, never knew he played Albert King style with the E at the bottom. I guess he learned to play a righty upside down.

I really wonder about that too. The factory was literally on Fender St., and the history of Fender is the history of Fullerton. The factory was there for almost 40 years. Almost seems odd that there wasn't already a Leo Fender museum that would have everything from that office in a heartbeat. Watching videos about G&L and the collapse, it seems like mostly everyone who worked at G&L truly believed in Leo Fender's legacy. It's too bad they hadn't figured out how to successfully market it after all those years. Maybe the company was around too long already when custom F-style guitars became more widespread.

It's unlikely they will ever get them, unless McCarty's family all passes away. He has great grand-children, so unless they decide that Gibson would give them more than PRS does, it's unlikely that they will ever get it. AFAIK, Leo Fender did not have any family except for his widow Phyllis, who passed in 2020. Thinking about it, I don't know how many of the designs that George and Leo made were actually patented, but anything that was, you can expect Fender to either sell or just renew to keep other people from using them. I'm glad I picked up an L-2500 when I did.

I've now seen pictures and videos of lots of parts from the G&L factory in the dumpster, including pretty much brand new in the box sets of Schaller tuners and other things like sustain block bridge plates, etc. As best I can tell, they just tossed the parts inventory. I have heard that guitars / parts that could be finished were sent off to Musical Instrument Reclamation Corporation (MIRC) to be finished, as well as any warranty work and repairs currently in process. Hearing about the possibility of Leo Fender's office being pretty much tossed is something I hope is not true, but I would guess FMIC has little to no interest in ANYTHING Leo Fender accomplished after he sold Fender in 1965. He will probably be reduced to a tagline for FMIC, with all of the work he and George Fullerton did on the MFD pickups, Dual Fulcrum Bridge, Saddle Lock bridge, PTB electronics being pretty much forgotten / tossed by FMIC. They probably have no interest in anything that is an improvement over their current hardware.

Eh, long tenon, short tenon, the body is to thin I don't think it matters. What does is the late 60s long neck joint, which is what the SG standards have today. The Standard '61 models do not have this, which is pretty much while I'll only ever own an SG standard.

Yeah, I'm seeing that he had fallen at his home studio in Morristown in late September, so he had been hanging on for a while. I never knew he lived in Morristown. Bill Baker at Dave's Sound repair is almost certainly devastated by this. I never knew he lived in Morristown until now. Truly a massive influence on the world of rock guitar. I can only imagine how many Les Paul type guitars were routed for a third humbucker due to ACE. Were all THREE pickups Super Distortions? I wonder how many smoking guitars we're gonna see pop up at live shows in the following months.

I will say, G&L really embraced some lighter tone woods such as empress wood, which really helped get guitar weights down.

I mean... they kinda already went through this some years back when they were sold to a larger company. Just like how Hamer ended up own by Kaman Music. Though, isn't G&L owned by BBE sound? I guess they are on the outs now too. Maybe Paul Gagon will go out on his own to design more pickups. He designed many of the Alnico pickups G&L used, as well as their single coil size blade humbuckers.

Just saw this, and it's definitely been sad time for the guitar industry lately. Back when I was in HS the Parker guitars were THE thing that the buzz was about. They were pretty much the Steinbergers of the 90s. I wanted one, everyone wanted one, sadly I never got to play or own one. He sold Parker in 2004, but in a strange twist of fate, Ken Parker started making archtops in the mid 00s, which were just as different as his electrics. He'd been battling cancer since 2023. https://kenparkerarchtops.com/

That reminds me of the statement from PRS basically saying that they wouldn't be able to stay solvent without their import line. It helps shore up the bottom line, and is pretty much now a standard thing throughout the industry. Even Heritage Guitars has started an import line, but now with tariff uncertainty, that part of the business has gone from being a steady income source to a huge source of concern. I will admit that I am NOT a strat person. Yet now I'm pretty sure I'm gonna hold onto the two G&L legacies I have, because they are just that good, even if I'm not a huge fan of the strat bridge pickup. Both have the PTB system, which is honestly such a good setup electronics wise. And then, that tremolo bridge. I certainly hope that design doesn't die, the same with the saddle lock bridge. I really hope they are able to find a buyer that will keep the history they have, and hopefully can bring back the skilled workers from the factory.