***N*O*G*D***

I've liked the looks of the old Leo-era guitars ever since I became hip to G&Ls --- maybe two or three years ago. I'd been wondering about how they sounded, and I'd been wondering about how they felt to play 'em. I had it bad. I had a burn that needed salve, a hankering that wanted slaked. I also had money in my hand and a tankful of gasoline. So I headed down to Buffalo Bros. sometime last week, which is in the actual middle of nowhere, and I played many fine Fenders and many fine G&Ls, Leo-era and BBE-era. I became rather enamored with a 1985 transparent red S-500 that they had. I played it in comparison to Fenders, in comparison to G&Ls, and in comparison to my own Comanche. This guitar is a for-real weaponized piece of physical meat. She is awesome and unique. And I bought her. She apparently used to belong to Mac AKA Burnt999. She ain't hardly mint --- she's been surely knocked around a mite. But she sounds great, she plays great, and she's a real working-class working girl. Wasn't sure about the thin neck at first, but I'm getting used to it. I don't think that neck profile would work for me without a small radius and small frets. I'm enjoying this guitar immensely. Brought her out on Friday for one of the stranger gigs I've ever played at a Knights of Columbus Hall in a different middle of nowhere. I'll try to get some pictures up for y'all soon as I can. In the meanwhile, here's a snippet of what she looks and sounds like.

[youtube]1W6tsU7A1A0[/youtube]

Hey El, it cooks!-- Darwin

Good observation about the thinner neck. I agree that the small radius makes it playable. If it were 12" then you'd be most of the way to an Ibanez 'Wizard' neck, and nobody wants one of them!

Thanks, Darwin! I've been really falling for this guitar. The sound is definitely different than my Comanche --- different really from the newer S-500s I've tried too. My Comanche sounds quite like a souped-up Strat to me, almost like a boosted Strat. This old S-500 sounds like she's slightly more in the Tele family, with an allmost hollowed-out kind of sound, but with more sparks being thrown off the tranny than a typical Tele.

Good observation about the thinner neck. I agree that the small radius makes it playable. If it were 12" then you'd be most of the way to an Ibanez 'Wizard' neck, and nobody wants one of them!

I've got an old Peavey T-60 (which, by the way, is a great sounding guitar) that has a very thin neck, but unlike the G&L it's got a very flat radius. Makes for a very uncomfortable playing experience for me.

And some pics, as promised. Am I correct in assuming that the body is made of ash? Can one tell by the grain?

Nice S-500, El! The body certainly looks like ash to me.

Thanks, Jim! Yeah, ash is what I'm thinking for surely.

Nice one ! Congrats. It looks like an ash body for sure.

Love these 'square' pups! Absolutely great score. But then again, I know Tim knows his G&L's so no real surprise there And ash +1

- Jos

Hey El Nice score, very similar to my #1 500, blows the newer 500's out of da water, I've never had a more tonefull guitar, people don't know what they are missing untill they plug in those old square enders. One of my clients who is a pro stuido player came out from LA last week to look at his investment properties and we jamed for about three hours and he couldn't put down my 500, wanted to take it home with him and the clincher is he hates strats and is a tele guy through and through, he said he never played a strat style that could get to 98% tele tone with so much more to offer. Enjoy that bad boy!

Thank you for the kind words, Southpaw and Jos.

Hey El Nice score, very similar to my #1 500, blows the newer 500's out of da water, I've never had a more tonefull guitar, people don't know what they are missing untill they plug in those old square enders. One of my clients who is a pro stuido player came out from LA last week to look at his investment properties and we jamed for about three hours and he couldn't put down my 500, wanted to take it home with him and the clincher is he hates strats and is a tele guy through and through, he said he never played a strat style that could get to 98% tele tone with so much more to offer. Enjoy that bad boy!

Holy crap, Westide Duck! They're dead ringers. What year is yours?

This guitar is surely a toneful mofo. As I said earlier, it reminds me somewhat of a Tele sound. I like the fact that it's unique --- it's got the Leo Fender sound, but it doesn't fit squarely into any one of his "tonal archetypes." It's causing me to rethink everything. I normally play through a Victoria 35210, which is their version of a tweed Super, and I love this amp for its edge-of-breakup/full-on-breakup and underrated cleans and over-all versatility; however, this guitar sounds so damn good I'm thinking I need to get a BIG amp that has incredibly lush cleans, like a Hiwatt or something (not that I can come anywhere close to affording one), or maybe a Twin. Thoughts?

Question: This guitar came with a sort of jury-rigged hardshell case. I'd like to get a proper case for it. It does not fit into my Comanche's case --- it's too long with the headstock. Any ideas here?

Glad you were able to snag the maple neck '500 from the Brothers. And yes, those square pup are excellent. I would think a Twin would do nice or perhaps look into a Dr. Z Galaxy or EZG which are superb Fender-style amps but with a whole lot more.


http://www.drzamps.com/amp/galaxie/

http://www.drzamps.com/amp/ezg50/

Glad you were able to snag the maple neck '500 from the Brothers. And yes, those square pup are excellent. I would think a Twin would do nice or perhaps look into a Dr. Z Galaxy or EZG which are superb Fender-style amps but with a whole lot more.


http://www.drzamps.com/amp/galaxie/

http://www.drzamps.com/amp/ezg50/

Thanks, Jon. Yeah, Dr. Z makes some mighty fine amplifiers --- pretty sure the Galaxie is the Z version of my very amp. I just can't afford spit right now. Fact, I'm gonna be selling my Comanche to make up for buying the '500. I'm thinking that the easiest (and cheapest) way for me to add some lushness to my rig is to use an extension cab of some sort. I'm gonna be looking into that shortly.

And another couple of questions for Westside Duck or anybody else:

Have you experimented with your pickup heights on your S-500? Any tips, thoughts, observations?

Also, I notice that on mine, the tremolo springs seem to be very robust, which makes down-bends with the tremolo arm substantially more difficult than I'm used to. Is this normal for these guitars, or do you think the springs have been changed?

Thanks!
EF

Does it have the middle, copper spring?

Does it have the middle, copper spring?

No. Far as I can tell, it just has three silverish springs.

Okay, so my trem spring complaint was an outgrowth of user error. I've never regularly used an old twist-in style tremolo arm before. I wasn't tightening it enough, so there was substantial play in the movement. After tightening it one more rotation, tremolo is now very smooth. I think I just fell more in love.

Mine's an early 82, the first batch of these off the line all had the smooth black hardware not the crincle finish and I've never seen an early one with a painted headstock. The origonal middle trem spring was copper colored and not as strong as the two outer springs. I've found my 500 sounds great with every amp I have but really kicks ass with a great amp like this Fuchs. here are some close up pics of my pup levals. I can take some measurements if you like. I set the levalfirst with the poles all flush and then adjust the pole pieces where needed

Wow, WSD! Stunning! Yours is in substantially better shape than mine.

Thank you much for the close-ups. That's very helpful!