NGD: 1986 G&L SC-3 CORAL / PEPTO PINK!

[RIORIO]

These Leo-era G&L's are NEXT LEVEL. Esp in this color....I had a viking blue sc-3 that I let go recently and was missing it...then this one popped up and I had no choice. In excellent shape for 33 years young...only a few marks on the headstock. Plays SOOOOO good. GORGEOUS streaking on the ebony board. Pickups sound massive...vibrato is perfect...just look at it!

The first pic is the most accurate representation of the color...the nitro finish has yellowed in certain places and changes like crazy in the light (first pic was early morning, second pics were later in the day)e

[Danley]

Perfect color - those MFDs really belt it out

[mgeek]

Wow that's cool!

How did they end up using nitro? Was the whole cork sniffer 'good for tone' stuff around that early?

[RIORIO]

Wow that's cool!

How did they end up using nitro? Was the whole cork sniffer 'good for tone' stuff around that early?

Perhaps Leo was the original cork sniffer? This was one of his babies...

[marqueemoon]

What a great color. Amazing.

[Embenny]

Wow that's cool!

How did they end up using nitro? Was the whole cork sniffer 'good for tone' stuff around that early?

G&L's were made in the same Fullerton factory as pre-CBS Fenders. I imagine they had the equipment on hand and didn't see a reason to change, but that's just speculation on my part. Then again, the poly-finished Musicman Stingrays and Sabres were produced by CLF Research. I know they went from nitro to polyester, which cracked, to polyurethane, which didn't, during the run of MM basses and guitars in the 70's.

Maybe, because of the issue with cracking finishes they had on the MMs, they just decided it was too much hassle and went back to nitro?

Leo was very much trying to push the envelope of how much he could refine and modernize his ideas in the CLF/G&L days, so I very much doubt he believed in tonal impacts of finishes. I suspect that the new poly formulas had just proven too fickle in the late 70's so he went back to what worked reliably.

[Danley]

Wow that's cool!

How did they end up using nitro? Was the whole cork sniffer 'good for tone' stuff around that early?

G&L's were made in the same Fullerton factory as pre-CBS Fenders. I imagine they had the equipment on hand and didn't see a reason to change, but that's just speculation on my part. Then again, the poly-finished Musicman Stingrays and Sabres were produced by CLF Research. I know they went from nitro to polyester, which cracked, to polyurethane, which didn't, during the run of MM basses and guitars in the 70's.

Maybe, because of the issue with cracking finishes they had on the MMs, they just decided it was too much hassle and went back to nitro?

Close but not quite Fender's first pre-CBS factory was on 100 Pomona Street in Fullerton; Fender moved to 500 S Raymond a bit later on, then to 1300 Valencia (the 'CBS Factory.') When Leo left CBS, his first office was at 1013 East Elm in Fullerton (Trisonix/CLF Engineering,) before he purchased and built the property at 2548 E Fender Ave which became the G&L factory. I may stand corrected but I believe no G&L was ever made at any (ex or current) Fender facility.

Leo's initial dispute with MusicMan centered around poorly finished poly instruments for which Leo had to perform warranty repairs, which is why he moved back to nitro.

There are a few intermediate addresses (MusicMan had an address at 1260 State College in Anaheim, and G&L also had a property on 5381 Production Drive in Huntington Beach, but I believe these were both sales offices (a lot like Fender's Santa Ana location, as seen on the back of many amps.) The instruments (Early MM/G&L) do pretty much feel like hot-rod CBS Fenders built with the quality turned up. As for the SC series, Leo apparently wanted to distance G&L from 'just making copy Strats' so in particular he directed the use of the non-offset/Mustang-style body until dealers complained enough (adding the Strat-style body, then the larger full-sized pick guard body from the latter Skyhawk.)

[Embenny]

Whoah, thanks for the correction and the info!

Were the G&L's made on some of the same equipment as pre CBS fenders? I can't shake this memory of having been told that G&L was started up using the remnants of original Fender, but maybe that was folklore.

At least I was right that it was the bad, cracking polyester guitars that sent him back to using nitro

[Danley]

Whoah, thanks for the correction and the info!

We're the G&L's made on some of the same equipment as ripe CBS fenders? I can't shake this memory of having been told that G&L was started up using the remnants of original Fender, but maybe that was folklore.

At least I was right that it was the bad, cracking polyester guitars that sent him back to using nitro

You’re right about the equipment - at minimum Leo used his old pre-CBS neck jigs and pickup winding machines to some degree (I think the neck jigs got retired after they started giving things irregular radii, but the pickup winder is still used on some custom shop instruments.) G&L’s Facebook shares a lot of the old Leo era machinery, sometimes with detail that they were Fender leftovers.

[RIORIO]

This info is so great- love this forum!

After owning a few early G&L's and some Pre-CBS Fenders....I can say there is some sort of through-line. The attention to detail is really amazing. This one in particular wasnt played much and is a great time capsule...

[Embenny]

This info is so great- love this forum!

After owning a few early G&L's and some Pre-CBS Fenders....I can say there is some sort of through-line. The attention to detail is really amazing. This one in particular wasnt played much and is a great time capsule...

Agree 100%. I have that SC-3 and an '80 F-100, and they resemble my 60's Fenders much more than the 70's Fenders I've played. As a side note, my '77 Musicman Stingray, despite being built by CLF Research just like my '80 F-100, feels much more like a 70's Fender. It's heavy as hell, a natural ash body with maple neck, and its poly finish feels unmistakeably 70's Fender in the hand. My '80 and '86 G&Ls in contrast are lightweight with superior (perfect) fit and finish, and that unmistakeable "old nitro" feel to the touch.

It's a shame they don't have any offset models from the 80's. If the Stingray guitar had been made by G&L, with MFD pickups and a nitro finish like the F-100, it would literally be my perfect guitar.

[RIORIO]

Interesting- I've never played a MM so I have no frame of reference but it makes sense.


Is it blasphemy to rewire this thing a bit??

I was thinking of changing it so the middle position is Bridge + Neck rather than Middle Pickup.

I bet it would sound sooooooooooooooo good. Did this on another build with a 5 way switch and loved it.

[RIORIO]

BTW- the neck on this thing is SO skinny

[Maggieo]

Congrats!!! Those are so RAD!!!

[RIORIO]

Congrats!!! Those are so RAD!!!

THANKS