KevL

I think G&L have always been a bit obscure and niche, possibly from lack of big-name players as you suggest, and less marketing than the big names. I believe they were difficult to get hold of in the UK for a while with distributor problems. It will be intersesting to see how they fare now with being exclusively sold by Andertons (and 2 other shops I think). There's always comments and views about them being 'the authentic/true (Leo)Fenders' versus 'not a proper Fender(Musical Inst Corp)'. I think there is plenty of room for both to exist alongside each other. The other thing that seems to put people off is the teat on the headstock; it's not something that I really notice but each to their own (not all of the Leo-era instruments had this actually). The 3-bolt tilt neck may still be seen by some as a point against them, this is from association with Fender's poor implementation of this in the 70's - it was actually Fender's poor workmanship and construction that was the problem, not the 3-bolt neck per se. G&L's used 3-bolts until 1996 with no problem, only changing because of the hangover from the poor 70's Fenders. Look at the classic model that @Jadenacre has advertised, 30+ years old, still great. For those who do take to them, they are great instruments and very good value. I have 2 from Leo's era, a 1987 ASAT and an 1987 SC-3 (marketed at the time as a student or beginner guitar, it has a beautiful ebony fretboard - imagine that now). I also have a 92 Legacy, this still has a lot of the features from the Leo era but over the years, BBE (the new owners) standardised the production and removed some of the little touches and quirks, although making a consistent and still very good product. e.g. the bass that @bloke_zero is selling will have a hand-shaped neck which is a nice feature, the necks became all machine made from about 2005. All this plus a slow market, as @White Cloud said, can make them a hard sell. The other side of this is that there can be some good bargains. That went on a bit...apologies for the ramble, you can probably tell that I'm a G&L fan.

Couple of other Glasgow shops (good for used vinyl, not sure on new/used CDs): Mixed Up Records on Otago Lane, near CC Music; Missing Records, under the rail bridge at Argyle Street station; Love Music, Dundas Street, not far from Missing; Oxfam, Byres Road is also good. For instruments, I don't think Jimmy Egypt on Great Western Road has been mentioned, probably not overrun with basses but occasionally has some interesting used pieces.

This is a seemingly neverending debate on guitar forums but it all comes down to personal taste and that manufacturers can satisfy that taste. There was a real hooha recently when it was noticed that Fender use a stencil/pattern to mark the areas of wear - not sure if this is just on the heavier relics or on all. I quite like the lighter relic (think they may be Journeyman or Light Relic) as they look quite subtle and certainly more realistic than the very heavy relic. It also means there's not much worry if you then mark or chip the guitar yourself. I also realise that lots of people like an unmarked guitar and manage to keep it that way, that's fine, too.

Hello from another new-joiner.

Hi everyone, I've been playing guitar for a few years, started dabbling in bass for a bit of a change and some variety. Discovered this site a while ago and I like the vibe and attitude of everyone: good info, help, generally sensible and mature but with the right level of humour (characteristics of most bassists?). I live in N Wales, just play at home for my own amusement. Hope to contribute a wee bit to the forum. Kev