G&L in trouble...?

[wateroftyne]

I'm seeing a few rumours on the internet - only rumours, mind - that G&L are in trouble.

See this post from one of their master builders.

If it's true, I hope they get through it...

 

[gjones]

That's sad to hear. I notice that GuitarGuitar have started selling them again.

I'm a big fan of G&L, I bought a used L2000 Tribute off Reverb yesterday.

[dmckee]

I hope not! (And I’ve just ordered some pickups ☹️)

[Beedster]

Yamaha’s next buy?

[LeftyJ]

Apparently this has happened several times before and they got through it in the end. I hope they'll live through this too! Would hate to see them go.

 

They're owned by BBE, who don't exactly appear to be very relevant anymore as a company. Their Sonic Maximizer pedals, rack units and plugins were succesful for a while and they made some cool preamps in the past, but when you visit their site now it still says "2016" at the bottom and the button that should lead to their Products page is very much dead. Not a good sign. Their website for their plugins is more up-to-date though (2025).

[BlueMoon]

I hope not. By and large they make great basses, but their distribution has been patchy in Europe.

[Cato]

Their UK suppliers never seem to last long, every now and then someone like Andertons will get a few bits and pieces in but when those are gone that seems to be it.

 

I was very interested in trying an ASAT bass a few years ago and couldn't find one, new or used, being advertised anywhere in the UK.

 

I always assumed the US made stuff was fairy low production numbers so most of it stays in the States.

 

It'll be a shame if they do go, a lot of their stuff, both bass and skinny strings, guitars are an interesting twist on Leo's original designs. I'd be sorry to see some of those designs go.

 

 

[Sean]

Sad news indeed. There’s something about G&L that just doesn’t fly with the market and it’s been that way for years. Prices of used USA basses are proportionately low compared to US Fender or US MM equivalents. Some of the US L2000 instruments that you see for sale used go for Japanese Fender prices and the Tribute line used prices are rock bottom (I’ve sold a couple in the last 2 years). I had a few of each and the quality/sound/playability is as good as anything comparable but they have remained very niche.

 

A few times over the years I’ve had compliments on my G&L basses especially a US trans-orange L2500 I had but people said that they couldn’t get past that headstock. One person said that the G&L headstock makes it look like it’s aimed at the country music sector. I couldn’t disagree.

 

G&L has lacked faces too, in a recent Andertons video on why Andertons is still in business, Lee Anderton says that they keep good stocks of and sell lots of instruments that customers’ favourite guitarists/bassists are playing. G&L just isn’t on the radar of many buyers in the way that Fender and MM are. There isn’t a high profile artist roster and there’s not a history of legendary stars out there playing them in the same way you see Fender and Gibson etc.

 

G&L marketing focuses on the Leo Fender legacy and “the best instruments Leo made”. All commendable and worthy but I don’t think that figures in the buying decision of many people. The landing page of the website says “Made in Fullerton since 1980” - who cares about this except for me and few other crusties? It presumes that you know the history of Fender and significance of it, whereas most Fender owners have no idea where Fullerton is nevermind that it was where so many great Fender instruments were made. The product info is all “features”, like Saddle Lock Bridge and Dual Fulcrum Vibrato; that’s like a car manufacturer putting Fuel Injection, 16v or ABS on its products, it’s old hat, we expect all this and a lot more these days. On the homepage there’s a bloke in a G&L top and jeans sitting down playing a natural JB. Then there’s pictures of Leo and other G&L blokes in plaid shirts in the workshop, one is even holding up a competitor's guitar (it’s a Fender). That’s the shop window of G&L today. None of that helps get these amazing instruments into the hands of potential buyers. 

 

I’ve dealt with G&L customer service a couple of times in the past and it’s so far above and beyond expectation, it’s like dealing with a boutique builder that focuses on your need, they’re fantastic. I’ve had a pickup sent out FoC from California and another time they shipped me a tuner to replace one that was bit stiff. 

 

I really hope G&L comes through this in whatever way, the products are fantastic but they need a serious business rethink to get them out there selling decent numbers. Spector went through a rough patch in 2007-09 with distribution, image etc. Prices were disproportionately low but now it’s bounced back. Fender went through a rough patch in the 80s until the management buy-out. 

 

If someone like Marcus MIller can drive a new brand (Sire) to the point where it’s becoming a benchmark within its market position then surely someone can inject enough magic into G&L to make it a brand that is on a lot of people’s shortlists. 

Edited 1 hour ago by Sean

[Beedster]

12 minutes ago, Sean said:

said that they couldn’t get past that headstock

 

Sad but true 

[Beedster]

13 minutes ago, Sean said:

Sad news indeed. There’s something about G&L that just doesn’t fly with the market and it’s been that way for years. Prices of used USA basses are proportionately low compared to US Fender or US MM equivalents. Some of the US L2000 instruments that you see for sale used go for Japanese Fender prices and the Tribute line used prices are rock bottom (I’ve sold a couple in the last 2 years). I had a few of each and the quality/sound/playability is as good as anything comparable but they have remained very niche.

 

A few times over the years I’ve had compliments on my G&L basses especially a US trans-orange L2500 I had but people said that they couldn’t get past that headstock. One person said that the G&L headstock makes it look like it’s aimed at the country music sector. I couldn’t disagree.

 

G&L has lacked faces too, in a recent Andertons video on why Andertons is still in business, Lee Anderton says that they keep good stocks of and sell lots of instruments that customers’ favourite guitarists/bassists are playing. G&L just isn’t on the radar of many buyers in the way that Fender and MM are. There isn’t a high profile artist roster and there’s not a history of legendary stars out there playing them in the same way you see Fender and Gibson etc.

 

G&L marketing focuses on the Leo Fender legacy and “the best instruments Leo made”. All commendable and worthy but I don’t think that figures in the buying decision of many people. The landing page of the website says “Made in Fullerton since 1980” - who cares about this except for me and few other crusties? It presumes that you know the history of Fender and significance of it, whereas most Fender owners have no idea where Fullerton is nevermind that it was where so many great Fender instruments were made. The product info is all “features” like Saddle Lock Bridge and Dual Fulcrum Vibrato; that’s like a car manufacturer putting “Fuel Injection”, “16v” or “ABS” on their products, it’s old hat, we expect all this and a lot more these days. There’s a bloke in a G&L top and jeans sitting down playing a natural JB. Then there’s pictures of Leo and other G&L blokes in plaid shirts in the workshop, one is even holding up a competitors guitar (it’s a Fender). That’s the shop window of G&L today. None of that helps get these amazing instruments into the hands of potential buyers. 

 

I’ve dealt with G&L customer service a coupel of times in the past and it’s so far above and beyond expectation, it’s like dealing with a boutique builder that focuses on your need, they’re fantastic. I’ve had a pickup sent out FoC from California and another time they shipped me a tuner to replace one that was bit stiff. 

 

I really hope G&L comes through this in whatever way, the products are fantastic but they need a serious business rethink to get them out there selling decent numbers. Spector went through a rough patch in 2007-09 with distribution, image etc. Prices were disproportionately low but now it’s bounced back. Fender went through a rough patch in the 80s until the management buy-out. 

 

Despite what we may think, we rarely buy the best tool for the job, which is why Fender are where they are and G&L are where they are  

[LeftyJ]

1 hour ago, Sean said:

G&L marketing focuses on the Leo Fender legacy and “the best instruments Leo made”. All commendable and worthy but I don’t think that figures in the buying decision of many people. The landing page of the website says “Made in Fullerton since 1980” - who cares about this except for me and few other crusties? It presumes that you know the history of Fender and significance of it, whereas most Fender owners have no idea where Fullerton is nevermind that it was where so many great Fender instruments were made. The product info is all “features” like Saddle Lock Bridge and Dual Fulcrum Vibrato; that’s like a car manufacturer putting “Fuel Injection”, “16v” or “ABS” on their products, it’s old hat, we expect all this and a lot more these days.

 

This is painfully accurate :')

They like to present themselves as innovative, when all their innovations date back to the 1980s or earlier and they haven't kept on innovating since- unless you count scrapping Leo's fairly unique Bi-cut neck with single-action truss rod in 2006, and replacing it with a more conventional double-action truss rod routed below the fingerboard, as on most modern guitars, and switching to a whopping FOUR neck bolts instead of three, and six on some basses. 

 

I love G&L, one of my guitars dearest to me is an American ASAT Special (one of the earliest with 4-bolt neck, but still with the bi-cut neck) and I've owned a few others in the past (another ASAT Special, a Legacy Special and an SB-2, all 3-bolts) and all of them were wonderful. I would hate to see the brand disappear. 

[Musicman20]

I noticed this mentioned here:

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/GLGuitars/comments/1nla1iw/gl_shut_down_temporary_or_permanent/

[Sean]

2 hours ago, Musicman20 said:

I noticed this mentioned here:

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/GLGuitars/comments/1nla1iw/gl_shut_down_temporary_or_permanent/

There's some shocking stuff in there. I had no idea how bad it was.

[Grahambythesea]

I wonder if Mr. Trump’s tariffs have played a part which presumably are applied to the Tribute series basses which I guess probably sell better than there more expensive US made counterparts. G&L was never a brand that had the same “Leo” magic as Fender & Musicman. 

[itu]

13 minutes ago, Grahambythesea said:

G&L was never a brand that had the same “Leo” magic as Fender & Musicman. 

For me G&L has always been the workhorse of all these three brands because of the versatility. Especially models L-2000 and 2500 (and Wide-5): modern electronics and 2 pickups. 

 

When Nirvana started to use those cheapo and old student instruments, a friend of mine went to US. He came back with a neat G&L and said that Fender prices were sky high while his instrument had a very attractive price tag. George & Leo would be my choice of all his three companies. Well, an old Sabre could be close. 

[Mediocre Polymath]

That's sad to hear. I agree with what has already been said though, about how they've always seemed a little held back by their sort of internally contradictory relationship with the idea of innovation. They pitch themselves as high tech and the final refinement of the Fender-style design, but they're also trying to trade on their connection to the broader Fender history to an equal or greater extent.

 

As a side note, I've always found it odd when people have such visceral reactions to headstock shapes. Unless it's something deliberately oversized or covered with overbearing ornamental flourishes, I really don't much care.

 

It would never have occurred to me that a little kink in the lower curve of an otherwise conventional four-in-line headstock could elicit such strong reactions one way or another.