‘Caveat emptor’: The G&L that got away
Interceptor II (1st X-body)
The story behind this guitar
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For the following, I am indebted to Gabe Dellevigne who found in his notes this guitar was previous owned by Charles Meussdorffer, aka Jack Charles, guitar player for the band Quarterflash and now proprietor of Phantom Guitarworks where he recreates Vox guitars from the 1960s. The guitar is featured in a few Quarterflash videos, like this one at the 1:20 mark. It was given to him by Dale Hyatt who also provided him with an F-100 and (pink) S-500. Jack modified what were originally F-100 saddles by drilling a hole through them and using a set screw from above to lock the string. He showed his innovation to Leo who agreed that it did keep the guitar in tune but G&L would never use it because Leo had not thought of it himself! Jack also changed the tuning machines to Grovers. He sold it many years ago to Attilio Panissidi, a keyboard player whom Jack had played with in his prior band Sand. On Attilio’s website, this very guitar can be seen hanging on the wall. It has a (pre-BBE) #3 neck with 1¾” nut width and 12” radius ebony fingerboard.
This guitar popped up on eBay for a more than reasonable price. The time it took me to react was entirely limited by the speed of Na⁺- and K⁺-ion exchange in the membranes of my axions. Unfortunately, from all the data I currently have, the seller got a bout of remorse and instructed FedEx to return it to him on the day the guitar would be delivered to me. And, a bit to my shock, eBay only considered the ownership to be transferred when the item is received, not when it is paid. So as long as the buyer gets his/her money back, they deem the case closed. Alas, this guitar will not be part of my collection. Because I was really curious whether these saddles really work or need to be replaced.
The story behind this guitar
1983
G011903 (not in the collection)
SEP 15 1983
AUG 11 1983
