G&L or Fender?

[silencer eleven]

I'm looking to buy either a strat or tele, still a little confused on that. I play a hiwatt dr504, and I'm wonder which one has better quality and sound. Looking to spend at the most 1k. So fender or G&L? or any other companies that are around the same price range.

thanks

evan

[Grap]

I'd say go for a used G&L at that price point. Try a few out though and see if you take to the MFD pickups. If you don't like 'em then your G&L single-coil options narrow to the Legacy and Fullerton.

If you're lucky you might even be able to pick up an ASAT and a Legacy used for just over $US 1K...

[Chicago Slim]

What type of guitar do you play now, and are you looking for something similar, or different? I would look closely at the necks, before you decide. Most of the American Fenders I looked at, had a 12" radius. G&L's usually have a 71/2" radius (like an old Fender). I would base my choice on the type of neck that I like.

The quality of the G&L is better. G&L's cost a little more new, but sell for less used. The sound is more traditional on a Fender. G&L's are a little hotter, but are very controlable.

I went looking for a Fender Tele, and came home with a G&L ASAT. I've owned three Strats and a G&L Shyhawk, in the past. I never thought that I would find a guitar that I like as much as my PRS SAS, but the ASAT may become my main guitar.

[VaughnC]

G&L or Fender....neither one is "better" as it's a matter of personal taste. The tone & feel are different, however, to me Fenders always sounded more Fendery than other manufacturers if you seek the classic sound. Kick a few tires and buy the one that talks to you.

[rwe333]

Good replies so far...
I'm a G&L player, but you do need to play 'em as they are ostensibly custom-made and neck profiles vary 'cause they are hand-shaped.
A Fender may very well get ya the classic tones quicker, but I find the G&Ls more consistent for tuning stabilty, etc.
YMMV...

[Badger71]

I have a Legacy Special....it replaced an Ernie Ball Axis. I also have one of the limited ASAT all mahogany with a bucker in the bridge/ single in the neck....it replaced a PRS CU24. G&L.....:AOK

[rbisherw]

I have owned and played many fine G&Ls (Legacy, ASAT).

On Friday, I purchased a Fender Am Vintage 57 Strat, which may be the best guitar I have ever played.

PLay what you like.

[MichaelK]

Since you asked, my feeling is G&L has better build quality as a rule, but if a Strat knocks you out, get it.

IMO the Legacy sounds identical to a classic Strat tone. In a blindfold test I wouldn't be able to tell you which was which.

[Boomdoggy]

Try a bunch of each.I would go for a G&L myself,but you can find great guitars from either company.A lot of G&L's have big frets.I wish every guitar ever made had jumbos.G&L's are a little hotter sounding.That is a plus for me also.

[silencer eleven]

thanks everybody very much. I play a fender american deluxe strat right now with fralin vintage hots. And while I love how everything plays. and the pickups are nice. The actual guitar just doesn't sound that great. What does everybody think abou the 52' reissue tele? i've heard they can be very nice. I checked out some asat's on ebay and wow....do those babies look nice. its very appealing how they even sell for less on ebay. I want a guitar that will sound very good through my rig. and give me lots of diff. tones. I'm not a shredder, its not my thing, slow (or kinda medium haha) and sweet is what i like. I can't really do the whole sweet part, but I got the slow thing down. I want an axe that will yield some great chord tone, and just delicious solo tone.

you know?

evan

[sanhozay]

Used '57 RI
Used '62 RI {Dave Orban has a steal of a deal in the emporium - comes with two necks & upgraded pickups}
Used Clapton Sig
Used SRV Sig
Used Buddy Guy Sig
NEW New Fender 50th Anniversary American Strat
Used '52 RI
Used '62 RI Tele

Any G&L will do it but I'd prefer the Fender - easier to modify and retrofit. Plus the above guitars all are killer!

[sanhozay]

Also! Check out this one in the emporium
- Melancon Pro Artist, sn# 515.

For sale by john b

I don't know this seller but Melancons are awesome!

[aquadog]

If you're going for a tele, get an Asat. Honestly, I've played a lot of these and a lot of fenders, and I've still never touched a fender that beat an asat (in a somewhat similar price range). The pickups, feel, quality, and craftsmanship are amazing. You also have the option of different sized necks and frets, and can a get a semi hollow asat (which are unbelievable as well). Although I've found them to be quite consistent, it never does hurt to try them out and see which guitar fits you best.

[VaughnC]

Another thing to keep in mind, especially with Fender Strats, is that you have to play dozens (or more) to find the gems....but they are out there. G&L's are probably more consistant but, to my ears, they tend to have more of a modern sound....which could be good or bad depending on your taste.

As far as Tele's go, the best one I played was the Fender '51 Nocaster reissue....it rang like a grand piano. However, the less expensive production Fender Muddy Waters Tele seems to always get great bang for the buck reviews.

Again, there's no right or wrong....whatever works for you. Kick some tires.

[silencer eleven]

The more and more I hear about it, people seem to be raving about the nocaster relic's I think you can pick em up for for about 1500.00 on ebay. I'm going down to La to play all the fender's and g&l's I can get my hands on. Hopefully I can find a nocaster to play. I'm thinking it might be worth saving a little extra money for the nocaster. who knows? we will find out. Wow i'm becoming aroused thinking of the vintage room and guitar center hollywood. black market music, tru tone, the amp shop, tone merchant. i could cry.

evan

[silencer eleven]

You know the only thing that worries me, is how about good solid rock tone through a nocaster or vintage sounding fender? Would it sound great? or would a more modern sounding g&l fit the bill a bit better? Something about vintage fender's though. I wanna play it through my rig and see how it sounds for good rock.

evan

[MichaelK]

Originally posted by silencer eleven
You know the only thing that worries me, is how about good solid rock tone through a nocaster or vintage sounding fender? Would it sound great?
Good question... no one's ever tried it. You might be the first!

[silencer eleven]

was that sarcasm?

[aquadog]

I think it was.

Truetone is definately the place to go if you're going to be comparing the two. Athough to be honest, I've never been to tone merchants.
I hate guitar center hollywood.

[silencer eleven]

Ya that whole sarcasm thing was rude. Yes trutone is fantastic i'm pretty excited about that. Do they have nocaster's?

evan

[aquadog]

I'm not really sure. To be honest, whenever I walk in there, they have so many guitars, particularly G&L's, that I completely ignore the fenders and gibsons.
I would imagine so though, since they've got a lot of higher end guitars, and now that theres a whole 'nother room, they've put out a lot more of them.

[silencer eleven]

Do you prefer g&l guitars to fender's?

[webe123]

Originally posted by silencer eleven
Do you prefer g&l guitars to fender's?


I don't, but that is just me. I am wanting to sell my fender american standard and come up with some money and buy a fender 57 re-issue strat. I had one, but it was needing a refret badly. So I sold it and got a PRS mcsoapie. Then later on, I got a Fender american standard, but I am partial to the smaller frets of the re-issue. Also, fender gets the classic sound, which is what I like. But G&L guitars are quality built from what I have heard. I guess it is all in what you are looking for in a strat. It is good to have choices, don't you think? There is usually something for everyone.

[GCDEF]

I've got a bluesboy and a Legacy Special and have owned a bunch of Strats. I like G&Ls better. The Legacy Special I have is outstanding. It has single-coil sized humbuckers that sound EXACTLY like great Strat pickups with the volume up until about 8 or so on the guitar, after that they growl like great humbuckers. It's basically a Strat on steroids. On top of that, you can actually use the whammy bar and come back in tune.

[harryjmic]

Originally posted by VaughnC
G&L or Fender....neither one is "better" as it's a matter of personal taste. The tone & feel are different, however, to me Fenders always sounded more Fendery than other manufacturers if you seek the classic sound. Kick a few tires and buy the one that talks to you.

+1000

This is what is supposed to be about, nothing else matters, color, wood, pickups etc... It's all what works that makes the instrument and not what it says on the headstock. Any guitar builder can make crap or something real special, you just need to try a bunch and pick your favorite. The biggest mistake you can make is not trying everything. I bought a Mahogany Ibanez which normally I wouldn't touch, but this guitar sounds fabulous. I'm glad I didn't turn my nose up at it, because it might be one of the best humbucker guitars I've ever played. For some reason it just works, maybe it's the split coils when both pickups are on, very cool idea.

[KRosser]

Originally posted by silencer eleven
Wow i'm becoming aroused thinking of the vintage room and guitar center hollywood. black market music, tru tone, the amp shop, tone merchant. i could cry.

evan

Black Market is no more. +1 on Truetone, great guys and they're G&L dealers.

I feel like I keep going on like a broken record at this point about G&L's, but I love my ASAT & Legacy more than any Fenders I've played, and that includes high end/vintage ones.

[John C]

Originally posted by silencer eleven
was that sarcasm?

I wasn't the poster of the other response, but to me the question about "good solid rock tone through a nocaster or vintage fender" is an odd question that kind of begs that kind of response. The issue is you didn't provide a reference as to what a "good solid rock tone" means to you. Obviously there is a wide range as to what someone would consider a good solid rock tone; I'm sure my definition would be different than yours. However, without defining "good solid rock tone" a question like that falls into the catagory of this conversation I overheard in a music shop where a kid told his dad he "didn't want one of those rhythm guitars, he wanted a lead guitar" while pointing to a flame-top Les Paul Studio - it really sounds uninformed, which you don't appear to be from your other posts.

From my frame of reference - born in the '60s and growing up in the '70s - I can think of a few good rock tones on a Tele/Broadcaster/Nocaster type guitar: Jimmy Page on Zep's first album, Joe Walsh on Funk 49 and many other James Gang recordings, Jeff Beck on his early Yardbirds sides, and didn't Steven Stills use an early Tele (or Broadcaster/Nocaster) or Esquire on "Wooden Ships"?

[sanhozay]

Originally posted by silencer eleven
Ya that whole sarcasm thing was rude.

By your 50th post you will find it highly comical. More so if you purchase the Nocaster and join a rock & roll band. Trust me.

I didn't know your budget could be nudged into the Nocaster zone. 'Cuz that opens a whole bunch of possibilities.

Look, to love a Telecaster is a wonderful thing but it can take a longer courtship if you not as familiar with them. But they can do it all and can be molded and tweaked to do whatever the hell suits your fancy. My opinion is that out of the box the Nocaster needs to be wired to modern specs. After that everything is possible.

[aquadog]

Originally posted by silencer eleven
Do you prefer g&l guitars to fender's?

If we're excluding the custom shops the usually exceed 2000 (although I've still found a lot of G&L's that I prefer to these), almost every time I'll take the G&L. There are of course amazing fenders at lower costs, but as they're rarely as consistant, so you have to spend a lot of time searching for the right one. The dissadvantage that this then poses to me is that one of economics: if you have to search around for the right one, you'll not only have to spend time going to different stores, but that generally rules out getting cheap deals online.
Even after this, in my personal opinon, the G&Ls just work as overall better instruments to me. The pickups are much, much better, the frets can be much larger, there are an array of neck sizes, craftsmanship is almost always spot on, wood and finishes are generally better, and I the bridges are extremely stable and useful. Overall, they just feel like a more solid instrument.
The only thing that really bothers me is the hardshell cases, since they seem to be too short for the guitars.

I've got a comanche, and it's just turned out to be a wonderful instrument.

[jordanL]

Originally posted by silencer eleven
The more and more I hear about it, people seem to be raving about the nocaster relic's I think you can pick em up for for about 1500.00 on ebay. I'm going down to La to play all the fender's and g&l's I can get my hands on. Hopefully I can find a nocaster to play. I'm thinking it might be worth saving a little extra money for the nocaster. who knows? we will find out. Wow i'm becoming aroused thinking of the vintage room and guitar center hollywood. black market music, tru tone, the amp shop, tone merchant. i could cry.

evan

I think thats the right approach. While I generally prefer G&L's, both companies produce some fine stuff. For a great selection of G&L's check out Buffalo Brothers, I believe they're in the LA area as well.

[VaughnC]

Originally posted by sanhozay
[BI didn't know your budget could be nudged into the Nocaster zone. 'Cuz that opens a whole bunch of possibilities.

Look, to love a Telecaster is a wonderful thing but it can take a longer courtship if you not as familiar with them. But they can do it all and can be molded and tweaked to do whatever the hell suits your fancy. My opinion is that out of the box the Nocaster needs to be wired to modern specs. After that everything is possible. [/B]

I agree Joe. However, a Telecaster is probably the most honest guitar out there....good or bad, a Tele instantly shows ALL :eek: .

[Bryan T]

Both G&L and Fender make great guitars . . . and both make the occasional not-so-great guitars. I'd suggest trying a bunch out and buy the one that speaks to you.

Personally, I prefer G&L to Fender, both for their instruments/pickups and for their corporate politics. However, if you really want the headstock to say "Fender," then there is only one way to go.

Bryan

[deeval]

For the price range you are seeking the G&L classic tele,and you can drop in some Shur PUP,s and you can nail any fender tone,great guitars,Even if they dont have a high resale they can be purchased pretty inexpensive.

[silencer eleven]

ahhh. so i got back from la, just a few minutes ago. I wish i had read your post about black market man. we went there and were very sad. So we start out by going to amp shop, which had plenty of very nice equipment very small and the guys are dick's there. then we went to guitar center hollywood. we started out by playing loads of custom shop relic guitars, and honestly I was not impressed by them at all. The nocaster was just not really my thing. It had a fat neck, and just felt wide and not like a tele should feel to me. Ok but the vintage room wow, first thing I picked up was a 73' tele and wow..... sweet heaven. Felt like gold, sounded incredible just an absolutely fantastic guitar. So we walk out now were on our way to trutone we get in there. Grabbed some G&l's, I was not a fan of the classic's cause the fatness of them, when i think fender I wanna feel small thing neck's and I didn't. But the G&L custom's wow. Not only are they absolutely beautiful, they play and sound like a dream that guitar just gets very good ratings. So at the end of the day, its between the G&L custom asat, or the 73' tele and i'm leaning towards the Tele, while there both incredible tele played a tiny bit better and was less agressive, and gave me more of that classic fender sound. But i keep thinking about the asat too. but we will see. who knows

evan

[deeval]

Yeah the guys at the Amp shop can be rude A=holes
The 73 tele how much did they want?
If you where inquiring about 1000.00 range then if you can get that for 1K thats a good deal
Othewise get the G&L you wont be disapointed.

[silencer eleven]

well there's pretty much no way I would ever buy a guitar from there. Disgustingly overpriced. I think they wanted like 2800.00 But they also wanted 9800.00 for a 59 bassman that had no tolex. I am hoping to get one for around 1200.00 on ebay? But i'm not positive. anybody lookin to sell one?

evan