Tribute G&L, Expected quality?

Hi,

I went to a local music store and they had 2 Tribute Fallouts. One of them had a somewhat wobbly fretboard corners, but both of them had nice fret work and the finishing, and sound was very nice. However those were sold before I pulled the trigger, but they told me that they had one in storage and I ordered that to the store. However when it arrived it was nothing like the others. The fret ends were sharp, the finishing wasn't nearly as delicate as on the others and g and b strings were set so low that they were impossible to play because the were totally muted. I suppose the neck wasn't properly set up either. Considering I bought the Squier Mini as new, it costed 1/4 of the Fallout and the setup was good enough to start playing out of the box I was quite disappointed. Before trying it out I was expecting for a similar feeling as on the previous ones, but it was totally something else :/. I went from excited to get a nice guitar to scared on ordering any G&L's.

Based on those experience I have tried one Fallout that was excellent, one that was a bit odd but ok and one totally awful. I really love the pup selection, idea, looks and feel of the Fallout & ASAT Bluesboy when they are at its best. But the reality of the product was unexpected to me. What is the expected quality on the Tribute Fallout series? Is that just a lemon, was I expecting too much and should I just suck it up and pay a guitar tech to fix the shortcomings of the factory?

I am a newbie guitarist, and I can't claim to know on what to expect on an unset guitar straight out of the box.

Sharp fret edges ... it's called fret sprout. It can happen when a guitar is improperly stored in a low humidity and / or low temperature environment.

Which can also cause the neck to warp, changing the string height / action. It can happen to a $500 guitar, or a $5000 guitar.

It doesn't even need to be in "storage", it can happen while hanging on display in a store.

The store guys should be aware of that. If not go to another store.

Thank you. We discussed that it may be due to the moisture concerning the frets, but they didn't say anything about the neck except that they would adjust the saddle.

I need to pay them a visit in the near future to check how it turned out.

Sounds like a good guitar was stored poorly, which can kill even the finest of crafted instruments. The salesman should have spotted these issues before ever bringing it out front- sounds like they shot themselves in the foot and it cost them a sale. To me, this would undermine the quality of guitar shop, not the quality of the manufacturer. I've had USA's and Tributes, if ever I had an issue with either, my store would repair it and G&L reimburse them under warranty. They stand behind their work. The Fallout is a great guitar, treat yourself and buy one from a reputable dealer.

Welcome to the board Jar1! ~JagInTheBag

The unfortunate fact is that this company is the local distributor and is the only G&L reseller for a few hundred miles. It's also the only one in the country who had Fallout in their regular stock. I think I may need to pay them another visit on a later time, but I lost quite a bit of the excitement about getting a new Tribute G&L. Anyway I am happy to hear that this is most likely caused by the delivery/storing process and not a problem in the instrument itself.

The unfortunate fact is that this company is the local distributor and is the only G&L reseller for a few hundred miles. It's also the only one in the country who had Fallout in their regular stock. I think I may need to pay them another visit on a later time, but I lost quite a bit of the excitement about getting a new Tribute G&L. Anyway I am happy to hear that this is most likely caused by the delivery/storing process and not a problem in the instrument itself.

Welcome Jar1!
I have purchased new tribute series Legacy and ASAT special guitars on-line, and both were received in excellent condition, with the exception of my having to make truss rod ajustments to the necks, which is not unusual for any guitar from anywhere.
I was impressed with the build quality and playability of both guitars.
I don't have a Fallout but alot of folks have testified on this forum about how great the Trib Fallouts are, even compared to american built guitars from G&L and other companies.
Always risky to buy online (especially used), I prefer to play guitars 1st before buying, but of course, not always possible. At least there are decent return policies for most online merchants, if you happen to get a lemon.
Where are you from?

"Fret Sprout" is mainly a design problem rather than a quality issue, it can happen to any guitar with that type of fretwork when the humidity at the time of manufacture was very high (so it's a reversible effect). Any tech can fix that quickly, but it can be done by oneself as well... it's not that difficult. Totally avoiding fret sprout by design means undercut and well roundet fret ends, and that means fret ends must be shaped completely before the frets are inserted.

I own 5 Tributes (L2000, 2x S-500, 2xASAT Special) and after a good setup -- including a bit of edge trimming, leveling and polishing of the frets -- all came to a really good level of playability etc. Workmanship also has been absolutely OK, but factory setup was so-so only, overall.
Still two of the guitars are a bit weaker than the others concerning string action and general feel of the neck after the full-blown setup procedure, actually I feel like one even got worse over time (a hinch of neck warping).

I'd say if possible one should play before buy, preferaby after a basic setup at the shop if required. Otherwise one might miss the true potential of any guitar, in the end.

even the USA built get fret sprout after a while , like all ready mentioned climate and humidity .... it's no big deal , for me once they set and then get serviced the fret sprout doesn't seem to come back

I got a Comanche Tribute online, and it is almost flawless (put a tusq string tree in place of stock, but that's it). All the hardware etc doesn't feel cheap or loose at all, the fulcrum works perfectly.... I could only be happier if a bit lighter or I was a bit younger. Don't write off the whole line.