G&L Musical Instruments

Infobox Company
company_name=G&L Musical Instruments
company_logo=
company_slogan=
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company_type=Private
genre=
foundation=1979
founder=Leo Fender and George Fullerton
location=Fullerton, California, United States of America
origins=
key_people=Chairman John C. McLaren
Honorary Chairman Phyllis Fender
Plant Manager John C. McLaren Jr.
area_served=
industry=Musical instruments
products=
revenue=
operating_income=
net_income=
num_employees=
parent=BBE Sound, Inc.
subsid
owner=
homepage= [http://www.glguitars.com/]
footnotes=

G&L is a guitar design and production company founded by Leo Fender, George Fullerton, and Dale Hyatt in the late 1970s. Fender sold his company named Fender in 1965. He designed and produced instruments for Music Man in the 1970s through his company CLF Research. When relations with Music Man soured, G&L was created to continue operations outside of Music Man. The G&L name comes from the initials of George (Fullerton) and Leo (Fender).

G&L instruments are similar to the classic Fenders, but with some modern innovations. They are built at the same facility on Fender Avenue in Fullerton, California that produced the early Music Man instruments. G&L instruments 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 are 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 John C. McLaren of BBE Sound. George Fullerton remains as a permanent consultant, and Leo's wife Phyllis remains as Honorary Chairman of G&L.

In a print advertisement for G&L, Leo Fender claimed the G&L line of instruments were "the best instruments I have ever made".

= Innovations =Leo Fender and George Fullerton created improved designs over the years, with the most advanced being featured in G&L instruments.:

*The Magnetic Field Design (MFD) pickups use a ceramic bar magnet in combination with iron pole pieces with adjustable height, 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.
*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 and it allows the player to bend notes up as well as down. 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 Tilt Neck Mechanism designed and patented by George Fullerton. This feature is no longer used, and was a carryover from Music Man production.
*The Bi-cut neck design involved cutting the neck lengthwise perpendicular to where the fretboard is later installed, routing a channel for the truss rod, then gluing the two neck pieces back together. As G&L moved production to CNC machines, this method was phased out.

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

Electric guitars

*ASAT Classic: Similar design to the Telecaster; offered as a solid-body instrument as well as a semi-hollow body instrument.
*Bluesboy: Based on the ASAT Classic, but with a Seth Lover humbucker pickup in the neck position and a modified MFD single coil at the bridge. Designed by Tim Page of Buffalo Bros. (www.buffalobrosguitars.com) with the help of Seymour Duncan (www.seymourduncan.com) for the neck pickup and Tony Petrilla (of G&L) for wiring of the bridge pickup. First introduced as a special edition in 1999 in both solid body and semi-hollow versions. Became a standard model in 2001.
*ASAT Special: named G&L Broadcaster until 1985, when it was renamed ASAT. Sometime later the "Special" was added. Similar to the ASAT Classic but with two large "soap bar" MFD pickups and a Saddle-Lock bridge rather than the Telecaster-style bridge found on the Classic. Recent models of this instrument have again dropped the word "Special" and are now branded simply ASAT.
*ASAT Z-3: Similar to the ASAT Classic but with three "Z-Coil" pickups, additional pickup switching options and a Saddle-Lock bridge.
*Comanche: Similar design to the Fender Stratocaster but utilizes MFD Z-coil pickups, a Dual Fulcrum vibrato bridge and additional pickup switch options (super-switch).
*F-100: The first guitar produced by G&L. Two small switches controlled a coil splitter and a phase switch (reversed the phase of one humbucker), allowing additional tone creation abilities.
*G-200: Designed by George Fullerton, this is the only G&L guitar to feature a 24-3/4" scale neck (as on most of Gibson's guitars). Features include two MFD humbuckers, a Saddle-Lock fixed bridge, a unique wiring/switching design by Leo Fender, an Ebony fingerboard and a mahogany body. Approximately 209 of these were made.
*George Fullerton Signature model: Based on the Legacy. The main differences are the vintage style neck with a late 50's soft "V" shape rear contour and a treble roll-off for the neck and bridge pickup that Mr. Fullerton had on his '54 Stratocaster.
*Invader: Some use a Kahler bridge locking vibrato system with a locking nut.
*Legacy: Similar design to the Stratocaster with design considerations derived from older Stratocaster models from the 1950s and 1960's, but also newer features such as the G&L Dual Fulcrum vibrato.
**Legacy Special: Based on the Legacy, but with blade humbucker pickups.
**Legacy Deluxe: A Stratocaster licensed body with bolt on neck. Rear mounted controls and no pickguard. Standard pickup configuration is a Seymour Duncan TB-4 (An SH4 with different dimensions) and 2 alnico V single coils).
*Rampage: Similar in design to the Stratocaster but with a more narrow waist and a more dramatic "tummy" relief. Rampages utilize a single humbucker designed by G&L and built by Schaller. The necks are Maple with an Ebony finger board. Most, if not all Rampages, use Kahler tremolo systems. Production colors include white, black, yellow and Rampage Red. Played by Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains.
*S-500: Similar design to the Stratocaster and Legacy, but with MFD pickups and additional pickup switch options.
*Will Ray Signature Model: Based on the ASAT Z-3 with changes to suit Will Ray's style, including overwound pickups, a B-bender, a different neck profile, and skull-shaped fingerboard position marker inlays designed by Ray.

Electric basses

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

Current models

*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. Earlier models have slab bodies. Available with a solid or semi-hollow body.
*JB-2 Bass: J style bass guitar with 2 vintage Alnico jazz style pickups. Swamp ash or alder body.
*L-1500: Active/passive bass with single large MFD humbucker in bridge position.
*L-1505: 5 string adaptation of the L-1500
*L-2000: Dual large MFD humbuckers, 4 string bass. Both active and passive electronics, selected by a switch, along with pickup switching for a wide range of tones.
*L-2500: 5 string adaptation of the L-2000. Earlier versions have a 4+1 headstock configuration. Most are 3+2.
*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.

Discontinued Models

*Climax Bass: Active/passive bass with sculpted neck heel area. Single large MFD humbucker in bridge position.
*El Toro Bass: Two small MFD humbuckers.
*Interceptor Bass: Same as the El Toro but with a different body and headstock design.
*L-1000: Passive bass with one large MFD humbucker in front position. A limited run is scheduled for 2008.
*L-5000: Five string bass with split MFD pickup. Leo Fender's last 5 string bass design to see production.
*L-5500: Five string bass with EMG pickups. 4+1 headstock configuration. Introduced after G&L was sold to current owners (BBE).
*LB-100: Also known as the Legacy Bass. A Fender Precision Bass substitute model with alnico pickup.
*Lynx Bass: Very similar to the first-style SB-2, but with a contoured body.
*SB-1 (first-style): Single coil MFD pickup in front position. Slab body.
*SB-1 (second-style): Similar to the Precision Bass in form. The MFD split pickup has the same footprint as split Precision Bass pickups.
*SB-2 (first-style): Two single coil MFD pickups. Slab body.

Tribute

In 2003 G&L introduced the Tribute series to the US market as a more affordable alternative to the USA built products. Tribute G&L's were made in Korea by Cort Guitars using mostly foreign-made hardware, though some original parts were also used on select models. The pickups used are all originally made by G&L in Fullerton, California. Production of the guitars has since moved to a Cort facility in Indonesia.

Before 2003, for a short time there was production of Tribute guitars in Japan for non-US markets. But when production in Japan became more expensive and the best Korean manufacturing raised to the same quality level, the production moved to Korea.

The Tribute series instruments, currently made in Indonesia, are of a high quality. For example, as noted above, the pickups used in the ASAT classic Tribute series are the same as those used in the USA versions (and this may be the case with other Tribute models as well). Certain finishes on these guitars (i.e., 3-tone sunburst) also come with the guitar being made in more premimum Swamp Ash (again like the USA versions) and have a nice tone and visual appearance. The ASAT classic gives a fuller and brighter tone than more traditional Fender Telecasters. Although a matter of opinion, more and more musicians are starting to notice and prefer this sound.

The Tribute series is offered in many of the same body shapes as their original creations. These currently include the ASAT Classic, ASAT Classic Semi-Hollow, ASAT Special, ASAT Special Semi-Hollow, Invader XL, Legacy, Legacy SB, and S-500 guitar models and L-2500 and L-2000 bass models. The SB-2 was offered briefly but was discontinued, however, it was reintroduced late 2006/early 2007. The JB-2 was introduced to the Tribute series at the same time.

External links

* [http://www.glguitars.com Official G&L Guitars website]
* [http://www.guitarsbyleo.com/ Guitars by Leo G&L Enthusiasts Site]
** [http://www.guitarsbyleo.com/faq.php3 G&L FAQ]
** [http://www.guitarsbyleo.com/gldp/ Discussion pages]
** [http://www.guitarsbyleo.com/gldp/messages/SAVE/GFQA.php3 George Fullerton Answers Monday Lunch Report Questions]
* [http://www.ggjaguar.com/gnl.htm GGJaguar's Guitarium and Ampeteria G&L Page] : Profiles on individual instruments with pictures and historical background information