I’m kind of surprised this hasn’t been discussed before, but the guitar manufacturer G&L has, as of yesterday, gone out of business.
For those that don’t know, G&L was a company founded by Leo Fender in the late 1970s after leaving Music Man, having previously sold the Fender company that bore his name. He founded G&L with George Fullerton and Dale Hyatt. The G&L stood for George (Fullerton) and Leo (Fender).
They made a variety of guitars including the S-Type “Legacy”, and the T-Type “ASAT”, as well as more unique designs such as the Commanche. Leo called these “the best instruments I have ever made”.
Leo Fender took his innovative approach to guitar development to G&L with several innovations including the “Magnetic Field Design” pickups, Dual-Fulcrum Vibrato, and Saddle-Lock bridge.
For some weeks now, there has been speculation over the future of G&L as many of the employees were laid off. Now they have laid off all of the staff and wound down the company.
I only caught something about this earlier this week, when somebody asked “who is going to take over G&L?”. i had no time to dig deeper and kinda forgot until now…
It’s sad news indeed
Must be tricky, startign a new, similar business with your name referenced, not able to make the same thing anymore.
I think the never were different enough to stand out but who could blame you if you are tha FATHER of how “half the amount of guitars out there” look like?
It was a sad day, Monday, when my worst fears were realized about G&L going out of business. The company made some outstanding guitars and basses over the 26 years they were in business. The Tribute line, imho, were the best guitars by far in that price range. When tariffs were imposed on Indonesian imports it was the final straw for the struggling company. The company never really seemed to market the brand effectively either.
I was hoping another brand would acquire the operation and continue to manufacture G&L as a premium product. The word I hear most is that Fender bought the company and will kill the product line but incorporate the refinements into their custom shop line. Time will tell.
Meanwhile I will continue to show my stable of G&L guitars the love they deserve.
2016 Tribute Bluesboy Semi-hollow
2020 Doheny V12
2022 ASAT Classic Bluesboy BTO
2007 Commanche
2013 ASAT Classic
2022 Legacy
2024 ASAT Special BTO
2004 ASAT Classic Bluesboy Semi-hollow
The silver lining is that prices may drop as dealers clear their inventory. After a period of time some may become collectible. Especially the 1981-1987 models built when Leo ran the show.
I’ve written elsewhere on this forum that my G&L L2000 Tribute bass is the nicest instrument I’ve ever played. Included in those instruments are pianos worth 10s of thousands - not bad for £600 bass.
The main value to Fender (if they have, or do buy the company) I would think is that G&L own the “likeness” (i.e. image rights I think) and signature of Leo Fender.
I think they’ll also expect they can get value from the MFD pickup design. They may not be brave enough to put them in Fender branded Instruments (the traditionalists may not let them!). But it might be a reason to keep the G&L brand name going. Alternatively put them in their other brands or license them to other manufacturers or sell that side of the business.
I’ve a recollection that when Justin was doing his £1000 rig on the Andertons You Tube channel, he asked Lee Anderton if they had any G&L guitars. He didn’t use one in the end - I think because he couldn’t quite get it into the budget - but nevertheless interesting that it was one of his initial thoughts for a guitar.
It is sad. They made some nice looking guitars. I had thought that if I ever buy another tele it would be a G & L. But it’s true that they didn’t seem to be very prominent in marketing their products.
