G&L

From Free net encyclopedia

G&L is a guitar design and production company founded by Leo Fender, George Fullerton, and Dale Hyatt in the late 1970s, after Leo left the company he founded and that still bears his name. G&L instruments are similar to the classic Fenders, but with some modern innovations. They are hand built on Fender Avenue, in Fullerton, California. They are not widely distributed but are highly regarded by many musicians and collectors. The relatively small scale of production further allows for more custom options than is possible on larger production lines.

After the passing of Leo Fender in 1991, Fender's wife, Phyllis Fender, passed the management of G&L to BBE Sound of John C. McLaren. George Fullerton remains as a permanent consultant, and Leo's wife Phyllis remains as Honorary Chairman of G&L.

Contents

[edit]

Innovations

G&L Guitars offer several proprietary features, in an attempt to differentiate from other guitar companies, including:

  • The Dual-Fulcrum vibrato has two pivot points. The design aims to improve tuning stability, and according to some has a sound that is more mellow than a traditional bridge. See also Tremolo arm.
  • The G&L Saddle-Lock bridge utilizes a small Allen screw on the side of the bridge, to reduce side-to-side movement of the individual string saddles. The design aims to prevent loss of sustain due to this sideways motion by locking the saddles together.
  • The Magnetic Field Design pickups use a ceramic bar magnet instead of the traditional Alnico magnet, and allows a player to set the pickup output per string, as opposed to the entire pickup as a whole in traditional single-coil pickup designs.
[edit]

G&L guitars

G&L produces several distinct models of guitar & bass products, including:

[edit]

Electric guitars

  • ASAT Classic - Similar design to the Telecaster; offered as a solid-body instrument as well as a hollow-body instrument.
    • ASAT Special - named G&L Broadcaster until 1985.
    • Will Ray Signature Model - based on ASAT Z-3, with changes to suit Will Ray's style.
  • Comanche - Similar design to the classic Fender Stratocaster, but utilizes a pickup known as the Z-coil which incorporates G&L's proprietary Magnetic Field Design, along with the G&L Dual Fulcrum vibrato (see below).
  • Invader - Uses a Floyd Rose bridge locking vibrato system, with a locking nut.
  • Legacy - Similar design to the Stratocaster, with design considerations derived from older Stratocaster models from the 1950's and 1960's, but also modern features such as the G&L Dual Fulcrum vibrato (see below).
    • George Fullerton Signature model - Based on Legacy, main difference is the vintage style neck - late 50's soft "V" shape rear contour.
  • S-500 - Similar design to the Stratocaster, but with modern-style pickups and additional pickup switch options.
[edit]

Electric basses

All G&L basses feature bolt-on necks and 34 inch scale lengths.

  • L-2000 Dual large MFD humbuckers, 4 string bass. Active electronics and advanced switching allow a wide range of tones. Some early versions have passive electronics.
  • ASAT Bass - Relatively small bass guitar with a Telecaster style body shape. Available in both solid-body and semi-hollow versions. Same electronics as the L-2000.
  • L-2500 5 string adaptation of the L-2000.
  • L-1000 Passive bass with one large MFD humbucker in front position.
  • Climax Bass Active/passive bass with sculpted neck heel area. Single large MFD humbucker in bridge position.
  • L-1500 Active/passive bass with single large MFD humbucker in bridge position.
  • L-1505 5 string adaptation of the L-1500
  • SB-1 (first-style) Single coil MFD pickup in front position. Slab body.
  • SB-2 (first-style) Two single coil MFD pickups. Slab body.
  • Lynx Bass Very similar to the first-style SB-2, but with a contoured body.
  • SB-1 (second-style) Similar to the Fender P-bass in form. The MFD split pickup has the same footprint as split Fender P-Bass pickups.
  • LB-100 Also known as the Legacy Bass. Same as the second-style SB-1 but with an alnico pickup.
  • SB-2 (second-style) Essentially a Second-style SB-1 with an added MFD single coil pickup at the bridge and a second volume knob in place of the tone knob.
  • El Toro Bass Two small MFD humbuckers.
  • Interceptor Bass Same as the El Toro but with a different body and headstock design.
  • L-5000 Five string bass with split MFD pickup.
  • JB-2 Bass J style bass guitar with 2 vintage Alnico jazz style pickups. Swamp ash or alder body.
[edit]

External links

Retrieved from "http://www.netipedia.com/index.php/G%26L"