S-500 Tribute Special Edition (Swamp Ash Body) Info?

Hi,
I just scored a wonderful S-500 Tribute in tobacco burst on eBay from a local seller here in Germany, in mint condition. It looks exactly like the instrument currently advertised on the G&L page (exept that it has a 1-piece(!) swamp ash body instead of mahogany. Seller says it's a special limited edition, and google pops up a shop in the US claiming those instrument were made exclusively for them.
Date code is 03/12.
Specs say nut is 1 5/8" but my calipers tell more like 1 11/16" (which is fine, I prefer wide fat necks)

Anybody know anything about these, notably how many units have been made?

I already own an older S-500 Tribute (2011'ish IIRC) which is 3tone burst on ash, perloid guard, dome knobs, satin neck... all in all pretty much different.

The new guitar seems to be one level up compared to the older one, in every regard, fret job is wonderful and fit and finish is absolutely on par with my US models, acoustic tone also is somewhat more vivid and even across the board compared to the other S-500.

The guitar is right here at my house, will post pics later in the 'porn' section.

Hi,
I just scored a wonderful S-500 Tribute in tobacco burst on eBay from a local seller here in Germany, in mint condition. It looks exactly like the instrument currently advertised on the G&L page (exept that it has a 1-piece(!) swamp ash body instead of mahogany. Seller says it's a special limited edition, and google pops up a shop in the US claiming those instrument were made exclusively for them.
Date code is 03/12.
Specs say nut is 1 5/8" but my calipers tell more like 1 11/16" (which is fine, I prefer wide fat necks)

Anybody know anything about these, notably how many units have been made?

I already own an older S-500 Tribute (2011'ish IIRC) which is 3tone burst on ash, perloid guard, dome knobs, satin neck... all in all pretty much different.

The new guitar seems to be one level up compared to the older one, in every regard, fret job is wonderful and fit and finish is absolutely on par with my US models, acoustic tone also is somewhat more vivid and even across the board compared to the other S-500.

The guitar is right here at my house, will post pics later in the 'porn' section.

Which dealer? And what is the serial number? I will check with Dave once I get this detail.

Dealer is Studio Gears, Temecula, California. Their current ebay listing is
http://www.ebay.com/itm/G-L-Tribute-S-5 ... 1444827091
(note the serial of the shown guitar is 1207xxx, thus also a 2012 build)
They obviously do ship to Germany, so it could well be the previous owner ordered it from them.
Serial of my guitar via PN.

Craig, thanks for checking this for me,
George

Dealer is Studio Gears, Temecula, California. Their current ebay listing is
http://www.ebay.com/itm/G-L-Tribute-S-5 ... 1444827091
(note the serial of the shown guitar is 1207xxx, thus also a 2012 build)
They obviously do ship to Germany, so it could well be the previous owner ordered it from them.
Serial of my guitar via PN.

Craig, thanks for checking this for me,
George

Here's what Dave says:

Hi Craig,

We’ve a few Tribute Series special runs for Studio Gears and others, particularly Musician’s Friend. That ASAT in trans green is a good example.
We also did something in trans blue for Studio Gears, I believe it was an S-500. The company doesn’t title these in any way, nor cite any quantities;
we leave it up to the dealer on the messaging. About the customer with the TSB S-500, that neck would be the standard spec 1 5/8” though there’s
some variance in the actual production, as well as how exactly it’s measured by the customer.

Thanks a lot, Craig.

Dave

Hope this helps.

Thanks a lot, Craig!

Re the neck dimensions thing, yesterday another Tribute arrived at my house, an ASAT Special (dated 06/14). It's neck is noticably different in that it's a tad less wide and quite a bit thinner, also the headstock is thinner than on that S-500 by about 1/16". So there is some variation... no problem with that, as the direction of the difference feels 'correct' -- the slimmer neck is on the ASAT.