New around here........

Hi everyone. Peter from Australia here. I have been shopping for a while for an S type guitar. I was not really fussed about brand names. I prefer to look until that one instrument speaks to me . That was until I played a Tribute Legacy in a local store. Tributes are very thin on the ground here in Australia, and forget about a USA model in any store......I picked it up just to compare it to other brands and within a few seconds did a double take. The neck, workmanship, overall feel was WOW. Once I found out about the PTB system I was sold. Now I am wondering, was that Tribute a one off gem or indicative of the Tribute quality. Do I just go ahead and buy a USA model? From an Australian perspective, there are some real gems and bargains on US ebay. I have bought and sold on ebay many times so I know the pros and cons. Price wise, we get absolutely shafted from everything from guitars to cars and anything in between. Nothing to do with shipping and import fees, we get shafted because wholesalers/retailers can....but I digress......

I am looking for an S type guitar to cover all bases in a cover band situation. For me, the typical humbucker guitars are one dimensional, and not versatile enough. So the questions I am left with are:

Is a Tribute gigworthy? ie stays in tune, sounds great at band levels, hardware stable enough? I have read up on the differences between the Tribute and USA hardware. Just asking for opinions from users here, not trolling in any way.
Do I just buy a USA model and bypass the gateway drug Tribute?

Damn this GAS

Is a Tribute gigworthy?

The answer to the above is definitely yes. Tributes offer the most bang for the buck compared to anything. They beat the MIM Fenders hands down for build quality IMO.

The pickups are identical to the U.S. models, but the rest of the hardware is sourced differently.

What you get with the U.S. models is a vast array of options not available on the imports.

Ideally, if you can afford it is to get the Tribute to tide you over until you can obtain a special order U.S. model built to your exact specs which would take at least 2-3 months or more.

There are several other Aussies here who can probably provide you more info on their purchasing experiences down under.

Welcome aboard! There must be something in the water in Melbourne that causes G&L GAS. There are enough G&LDP members there that you could probably start having G&L jam sessions.

I can't speak about the Tribute series from personal experience, but they do get excellent reviews around here. I'm partial to the older (1980s) US models, which can still be found at good prices on eBay if you're patient and keep your eyes open. They are the real gateway drug IMO. There was a brief time when I thought I'd be happy with just one of them...

You can find US-built Legacies in the $600-$700 (US) range without much effort. I will defer to others on describing their sound, as I've hardly spent any time with one. The S-500 model has been around in one form or another for over thirty years. My mahogany S-500 is from the first year of production, back when a different type of pickup was used. It really nails SRV/blues tones, to my ears. The current S-500 pickups got their start in the Nighthawk in '83 and the Skyhawk from '84 to around '90. Mine get a bit more shimmer and definition than my S-500 does. Current S-500s tend to be a bit pricier on the used market than Legacies. Early S-500s and Skyhawks show up for sale pretty regularly, and seem to be running in the $700-$900 ballpark. If you're more into the hard rock thing, there's the Invader. If you don't need the in-between pickup positions, the ASAT Special also gives some great single-coil sounds.

I hope this helps. There's a lot to explore with G&Ls.

Ken

Last edited by KenC on Thu Oct 17, 2013 6:01 am, edited 1 time in total.

Hi Pete. Welcome to the forum.

I have 2 Tributes - an ASAT Special and ASAT Semi Hollow. I consciously bought the 2 Tributes ahead of the US made ASAT on the wall next to them because I honestly didn't think the difference in price reflected the difference in quality or playability. I gigged with the ASAT Special for over 5 years without a hitch. It fell off the stage at The Corner Hotel and didn't break. In fact it stayed in tune!

I'm with you on getting shafted by Australian retailers. I have 2 US made G&L S-Type guitars - a Legacy and an S-500. In both cases I bought them locally second hand which took a lot of the cost pain away. If I was buying new, I'd definitely go through a US dealer and get a guitar built to my specifications. As Eddie said, that is the real beauty of the US models. You get to build your own for a very reasonable price. If you can live with a somewhat generic guitar then a Tribute is a helluva deal.

This website is a real help if you're thinking of ordering from the G&L factory, though I'll warn you now it can lead to uncontrollable GAS: http://www.americanguitarboutique.net/AGB_Generator_index.html

Can I ask where you found the Legacy? I haven't seen any of the newer Indonesian ones in a Melbourne shop before.

Thanks for the warm welcome guys

Eddie, thanks for the straightforward answer on the Tribute's playability. Good advice to not jump in and buy a USA until I am sure of the specs I want.

Philby, the Corner Hotel.... memories hehe.....The Tributes I played in store were at Scarlett Music in Footscray. Not sure if they are Korean or Indo. I have emailed that question to them. I will update here when I know.

So it looks like I may get a Tribute and see if it develops into a G&L love affair. I just can't get that Legacy I played last week out of my head. I just remembered the satin neck felt great. I love the satin feel, not the sticky goop found on most guitars.

I will definitely hang around here and learn some more .

I started with a tribute G&L L2500 bass - still my best bass, then got a will ray tribute, an HB legacy tribute then graduated to a mahogany SC2 and a sunburst fallout - despite knowing a few guitar shop owners I had to get all of them ex US (except the legacy from NZ). Every single one was worth it. And Perth is further than Melbourne from the G&L factory I'd say. I would certainly have liked to try them in a shop beforehand but none of them has missed the mark of what I wanted.

cheers and welcome Pete

Jeremy

Welcome Peter. The Tributes are definitely gigworthy. If you like very low action you may need to level the frets a bit but the do the job very well.-- Darwin

Welcome Peter, always good to see other Melburnians around.

I just remembered the satin neck felt great. I love the satin feel, not the sticky goop found on most guitars.

If and when you end up going the US route you can get that satin finish on the body, it feels great there too and is much thinner than the full-gloss finishes

G'day Blargs. Geez i feel right at home here

Philby, the Tributes mentioned above are Indonesian made. Cheers, Pete

I started with a tribute G&L L2500 bass - still my best bass, then got a will ray tribute, an HB legacy tribute then graduated to a mahogany SC2 and a sunburst fallout

Not intending a thread hijack here Pete, but how do you like the Fallout Jeremy? I could see one of those in my guitar rack.

Hi Pete and welcome - Melbourne members probably outnumber the perth menbers now :-) .... although when you get down to it Jamie (Blarg) is and ex Perth member and Phil (Philby) is an ex Tasmanian member so there probably aren't that many real Melbourne members LOL.

Jeremy - fyi Not sure were you are although they don't carry stock (Joondalup Music Centre (and their other store in Mindarie) do have a G&L order book that they keep in a brown paper bag under the counter.

cheers, Robbie

Hey Philby regarding the fallout...
The more I play it the more I like it! The last little bit of the volume control turns my amp from clean to a nice sweet drive/chunk sound with both pickups on and I was thinking that's almost a les paul/SG sound but this sure doesn't weigh as much! I really like the compact body and having both the forearm cutaway and the belly cut in the body makes it fit like 10 year old favourite leather boots. It has been working very well as the melodic and rhythmic voice in a three piece from clean to heavy power chords. I am playing it through a Valvetone Tio18 through a closed back 1x12 and an open back 1x12 and it balances the tone beautifully. Despite fallouts now being made as tributes at half the price I do not regret getting the USA model at all.
I am amazed that there aren't more people on the board with them and spouting their praises - I guess they are waiting on their LE2s. I reckon this will be a bit of a sleeper that will suddenly awake as more people use them as a working, gigging guitar.

cheers
Jeremy

Thanks for the report on the Fallout, Jeremy. You didn't do much to talk me out of one!

I've been GASsing for an SC-2 for a while now, but I already have an ASAT Special with the big MFD's. The Fallout ticks more boxes for me by retaining the offset body shape, but packing a P90 and humbucker instead of the MFD's. I also like the sweep of the pick guard on the Fallout. It looks more 'finished' than the SC-2 in my opinion, though the SC-2 is a good looking guitar too.

If I see one pop up locally, I'll probably take it home.

No probs with the non-hijack of the thread philby. I saw that F100 on ebay that you posted about. I am on a learning curve with the current models let alone the older ones. Interesting guitar though....that Belair green fallout on the g&l website is very nice......

Hey Philby
I also have an SC2 with the vibrato bridge and it is also a great guitar - I often swap between the two depending on the style and sound required for the song. Cant go wrong with either. I noticed Jacks music in Newcastle is carrying the tribute fallouts. Seems like they would be a great guitar at the price they are selling for.

Jeremy

Thanks for the heads up Jeremy!