tbonesullivan

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.

Now I'm hearing on the book of face that they are done. I went to the website and their store is now a bunch of "page not found" errors. I'm also reading now at the G&L guitarsbyleo forum that workers were furloughed on Monday Sept 15, with an expected reopening on Sept 29...

I certainly hope not. The saddle lock bridges are insanely good for a hardtail. I just wish pretty much that I was more of a strat guy. At least there are and will be a good number on the secondary market. But the videos I have seen were pretty much right: they suck at marketing their product. I don't know if it's the company or more the dealer reps they send out, but they pretty much should have "Leo's ideas, perfected" (even if it isn't really true) or maybe "the final evolution of Leo's designs". I didn't really understand what Ed Friedland was talking about with G&L basses until I got one. Now, I understand.

I don't know how many of you pay much attention to the internet scuttlebutt, but there have been a few youtube videos as well as posts everywhere that G&L Guitars is not really doing great, and that they may close their doors. There are also rumors that fender is going to buy them. Judging by the dealers I follow and social media, it would seem like that wouldn't be the case, but one never knows. They started selling through Sweetwater a few years back, and they always have made a product, so it would be a shame for them to go away, especially when they make what is, IMHO, the best feeling non-locking dual fulcrum tremolo ever made. They also make fantastic basses, so I for one would be sad to see them go away.

That's actually a super clean job. I wonder if they plugged a bunch of holes, as I googled what the body of those looks like without the original bridge, and it's kinda bad. they definitely routed out an area and put in a bunch of wood, and then even repainted it. Kinda makes you wonder why someone who spent that much time and/or money on getting it like that would sell it.

Hell yeah! Jesus just left chicago! Such an awesome song. And yeah, I'm pretty sure that BFG can make just about anything sound awesome.

Looks like he needs to hit the gym more likely. Or get some type of hook on his shoulder for the strap to go around. He couldn't get it to stick.

I mean... they are now plentiful on reverb and ebay, and also plenty cheap. Apparently Bruce Springsteen mostly recorded an album on one, and now a current guitarist who goes by Mk.Gee (from New Jersey) has been using it a lot. https://www.musicradar.com/guitars/guitar-pedals/hes-not-using-a-guitar-amp-hes-using-a-tascam-424-jhs-pedals-puts-a-portastudio-in-a-pedal-to-help-you-recreate-mk-gees-elastic-lo-fi-tones

Well, Now I have both books in house, and man, there is so much information in there. I'm also AMAZED at how the Beauty of the burst was put together THIRTY years ago. How the hell did they manage to get that many bursts photographed? Did they travel to the bursts, or did they have some big Les Paul burst convention? At the time, those guitars were all about 35 years old, and now they are almost TWICE as old. I'm sure many of them are now more faded, especially those that see a lot of use, like Pearly Gates. Next up I definitely need to pick up some Willie G stuff.