My guitar collection - G&L
Announced on the Guitars by Leo website on August 29, 2017, when a message to dealers leaked out, the pickups on the Doheny are the first reworking of the Magnetic Field Design (MFD) single-coil pickups ever since Leo Fender passed away. And they look distinctly different from the Jumbo MFD as well as the ASAT Classic MFD. Clearly inspired by the Fender Jazzmaster, these pickups use a narrow bobbin aperture but wide splay still allowing plenty of windings. It is also G&L’s first new body shape since the Invader from the mid-1990s. Very similar to the body described in US Pat. 2,960,900, dating all the way back to January 13, 1958 as well as US Pat. Des. 186,926, filed on December 18, 1959, this one differs from the body used for the SC-1/SC-2 ‘entry level’ models, introduced in 1983, and later reprised on the modern day SC-2 as well as the GbL LE-2. In another nod to the Jazzmaster, in particular the kind of (‘60s) music in which it is frequently used, the model is named after Doheny State Beach in California, a popular spot for all things surfing. On the Specifications tab of the link provided at the bottom of this section one can find the default specs in which this model can be had. Among them, one finds the Dual-Fulcrum Vibrato (DFV), 3-position pickup selector, PTB circuit, and alder body for Standard finishes, Three-tone Sunburst in this case. But beyond that, a number of customizations more to my liking were applied and are discussed below. The headstock shape also got reworked for the Doheny to a shortened version of the early-1980s S-500 headstock. Note that this model does not come with a model decal. According to Dave McLaren, leaving it off makes the appearance cleaner. More information can be found on the G&L website, including a demo by Griff Hamlin:
Doheny w/Dual-Fulcrum Vibrato
The story behind this guitar
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Not withstanding all the great effort made by Eric Martin from Martin Music Guitar in Memphis, TN to put many personal touches on it, we could not achieve everything I desired. Yes, it has creme pickup covers and control knobs on a B/W/B pickguard, hard-rock maple neck with white binding around the 12” rosewood fingerboard (maple being the other choice) with white pearl block inlays, Jescar Medium Jumbo 57110 frets, and Schaller Locking tuning machines, giving this guitar an amazing look and tuning stability. But come hell or high water, it only comes with a Modern Classic neck. I so wanted a (post-1994) #4 neck: the Classic Wide C profile with 1¹¹⁄₁₆” nut more suitable to my big hands. At least it does not have the default 9½” radius fingerboard. Due to the intermediate changes made to the order, it took a while before G&L got around building the guitar. And I more or less had forgotten about it; the world of collecting had moved on since September 2017. But in the first week of January 2018 Charles Saufley wrote his “G&L Doheny Review” and on January 8, 2018, G&L Musical Instruments posted 3 pictures of this guitar on their Facebook feed. The guitar, completed 12/18/2017, looks absolutely stunning in real life and sounds great too. Clear, bell-like tones that love non-distorted amp settings. Not that some fuzz hurts though.
The story behind this guitar
2017
CLF1712094
11/21/17
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