Your expectations on G&L Tribute models

[BX1018]

This is more of a curiosity question for all of you. When it comes to G&L Tribute (or pretty much any other foreign based manufacturing guitar), what are you expectations in terms of quality? For instance, are you OK if there's a slightly higher fret? Do you take care of that yourself or do you return it? I guess what's your line of keep vs return.

For me personally, I will do a little fretwork myself (or pay someone to do it). These things don't bother me at the price point. I think my limit basically revolves around the Neck. If I feel I have to shim a neck, that guitar is going back. If I just have to do some minor adjustments, I'll either pay someone to do it or do it myself.

I wish there were more music shops around here that sold G&L, but I'm in a pretty thin market for music stores. Most of our music stores here only stay in business because of student instrument sales.

[sam]

Great question. With manufacturing as good as it is these days expectations are medium high. Tuners will be a little lower quality, weight may be a waiting game to find one I like, neck options are limited and yes frets may occasionally need a little work. Taking all of that into consideration, to be the level of return I’m with you on the neck. It would have to be twisted, frets sprouting or significant gap/alignment. Electronic issues would result in return, no time for QA that bad. With a couple of Tribbys I’ve been pleased.

Other possible stuff like slightly misaligned pick guard screws, limited guard options, pickup swaps or minor nicks can be overlooked. My experience with Tributes have all been good, and have my eye on one of the ones with double binding. of course after we build the Tribby project over Christmas vacation.

Kudos to the Tribute team with the new options and fantastic work!

[BX1018]

The only Tribby I've had to return was a Fallout. I was a little confused because when I lowered the saddle, the action was still awful on it. G&L confirmed it was out of spec and told me to get another one. I get it though, sometimes these slip through the cracks and I can't have an expectation of G&L doing a full on setup on every Tribute instrument that comes through Fullerton.

The 2nd one I got needed just a run of the mill setup, a little truss adjustment, and it was absolutely a monster after. Then again, I'm one of the people who think the Fallout is one of the most underrated guitars on the market today, ESPECIALLY for players who don't have a huge budget for a lot of a guitars and still want a pretty wide array of tones.

The ASAT I got had one VERY SLIGHTLY high fret. I just took care of that myself but after that, that instrument plays like a dream now. That satin neck just keeps me coming back for more.

[Arpeggio]

I think the Tribute models are fine instruments but I hope to see more consistency with the fretwork. I've owned 2 and played many. Most had some form of fret issue from sharp ends to high frets. Indonesian manufacturing has come a long way but not quite at the same level as what comes out of Korea. IMO, they're just not there yet.

To be fair, Indonesia is a tropical environment and these guitars come here by boat in metal containers, By the time they reach a dry climate like California there's bound to be lots of movement on neck woods. I'm not surprised people occasionally end up with warped necks and fret sprouts. Import guitar lines are all about quick turnover and high volume. If companies had to warehouse their import inventory for long periods of time and improve QC and setup time they'd have to raise prices dramatically. On paper, the Tribute line offers a lot for a very fair price and an experienced player can address the fret issues and add upgrades, while a novice gets something that looks and sounds a lot like their US counterparts for a lot less money, even if they have to pay for a proper setup.

For me, I find if I played a Tribute exclusively or if the US line didn't exist they'd cut the mustard just fine after some tweaking. The problem is, again - for me, that as soon as I pick up a US made G&L there's just no comparison. And that's not a knock to the Tribute line, that's praise for just how good a US G&L can be.

[Tooslowhand]

I've had two Tribute models. An ASAT Junior that I've mentioned in a few posts. It is really nice. No issues with fit, finish, electronics. The first fret was a bit high and caused a buzz. G&L offered to take care of it, but in the end I just had my luthier fix it. This should have been found in QC, but it wasn't a big deal. I also purchased a Tribute Legacy HSS. It was absolute garbage and went back to the on-line dealer immediately. The trem cover plate on the back was discolored, the fret work was atrocious, and the neck felt like it was completely unfinished. No way that guitar should have been delivered to a dealer or sold by a dealer to a customer. I guess in's also possible the dealer had it for a long time and didn't store it properly. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another Tribute if the price was right and I liked the guitar, but I would ensure there was a good return policy.

[Daniel50s60s]

All my guitars go for a basic set up when purchased. Frets, saddles, tuners, bridge, neck, string height, etc.

Any issues discovered there are either fixed or returned. My Tribute ASAT Classic semi-hollow Bluesboy was quite well done. The craftsmen in Indonesia did their part.

Had likewise good luck with a Guild and Hagstrom. However, I do expect a higher level of quality for any USA product. My Gibsons, Ovations, and the latest S-500 are stellar.

[bigjim711]

I've had two Tribute Legacies and currently have a Tribute S-500 (2019-2020). Those three were factory seconds and the only issue I had was that on one I had to loosen up the neck screws and put a little tension in one direction and retighten. One of the E strings was slightly closer to the edge than the other but that got them centered perfectly. I am happy with those purchases but may have been slightly peeved if I'd paid retail. I'm not sure. I like tinkering on guitars. I bought a 2015 Tribute JB-2 and it needed a bunch of fret leveling. I bought it used though and for a great price (likely because of all of the fret buzzing). It's great now and all it took was a little time with a fret rocker, tape, magic marker and a file. It had neon green strings on it so those needed to get replaced anyway.

I have a couple U.S. instruments that needed nothing other than a Legacy that clearly came from the home of someone who vaped. I had to strip it completely down and clean everything to get rid of the smell. Now it's great.

[tylersdad]

I've had my G&L Tribute ASAT Special for a little over a year. I'm very disappointed. I was happy initially, but as I learned more and started branching out to soloing, I discovered a lot of issues with this guitar. I've been very close to pulling a Pete Townsend on it many times. Most recently, about 5 minutes ago.

I've had it setup by a professional. I have this awful buzzing sound on my G string when I play above the 7th fret. I've set the action and truss rod to stock settings. I still have this issue. This guitar is worthless as it is. The G string is probably the most common string to play in blues and this guitar is utterly worthless for that. It's fine for playing open chords, but who wants to stick to just open chords?

So frustrated. I almost wish I wouldn't have started playing the guitar, that's how disappointed I am. I know one thing for sure. Unless you plan on spending over $1000 on a guitar, don't spend more than $200. My $500 guitar doesn't even play as well as my $35 thrift store guitar.

[john o]

From what I've read they can be hit or miss.

I had a trib Legacy that I bought as a "scratch/dent" for 25% off that didn't have any scratches or dents.
It was new/unplayed. Just needed a good setup which took me about an hour, then was almost perfect. The p'ups were glorious.
Pickguard had some static when I touched it but I've had that same problem on dry days with many nicer usa made gtrs. I shielded it.
Didn't sustain quite as nicely as I would have liked but it was a gig-worthy gtr and performed well. I sold it after replacing it with my comanche which is incomparable.

I also had a trib ASAT special, bought new, mahogany body, rosewood board, sunburst and those amazing large coil mfd's. Again needed a setup, and even with this wasn't quite right. Needed a shim. I did a single business card shim and that transformed the neck into close to perfect. The tone and the feel were "special" and it was gorgeous and very nice sounding. I played entire gigs with it. I have since acquired several other ASAT's (usa) that have great necks and tone, but i didn't have the heart to sell this one, so I gave it to my son, who quite enjoys it.

Many say at the price point these guitars can't be beat, and I agree. I'm sorry to hear of those who may have a lemon, but based on my experiences I can say I would recommend these tributes. I also bought an amazing tribute L-2000 bass for my youngest boy and he loves it and has gigged with it, sounds/plays fab!

[fendertweed]

I’ve had. Fallout Tribute and have an early L-2000 Tribute, both very well done.

[tylersdad]

After doing a little more work to understand proper guitar setup and swapping out the jumbo MFDs (which I absolutely HATE) for a Rio Grande Vintage Tallboy bridge pickup, I am much more satisfied. Frankly, I can't put it down. It sounds so much better now. The jumbo MFDs get really bloated sounding when a little bit of gain is added and no amount of post or pre EQ could fix it. Spending $100 on this new pickup changed the guitar completely. Now it sounds like a Tele.

[Craig]

It's too bad that you did not find this site sooner.

Here's are couple of posts which would have helped you choose the right ASAT model for you:

List of Regular Production ASAT-style guitars (USA).
List of pickups used in G&L guitars.

[john o]

After doing a little more work to understand proper guitar setup and swapping out the jumbo MFDs (which I absolutely HATE) for a Rio Grande Vintage Tallboy bridge pickup, I am much more satisfied. Frankly, I can't put it down. It sounds so much better now. The jumbo MFDs get really bloated sounding when a little bit of gain is added and no amount of post or pre EQ could fix it. Spending $100 on this new pickup changed the guitar completely. Now it sounds like a Tele.

Interesting, I've heard of the Rio Grande p'ups but never read about them. Their website is cool, i enjoy their attitude/language on there, looks like they are using alnico V magnets for the ASAT replacement p'ups which would give a significantly different tone than the Leo designed MFD's. They are very favorably reviewed, going back to 1993, and compared to strat's and tele's with some standard Fender p'ups of the day.

Of course, beauty is in the ear of the beholder, we all have our preferences and expectations of p'ups, depending on what kind of guitar they are in and what kind of amp you are using. I have certainly replaced p'ups in guitars where i was looking for a different sound/performance, eg. I have a DiMarzio in a '70's les paul, a Lollar p90 in an SG, Duncans in an epi 335, and ASAT super in one of my ASAT's. I am lucky to have a few guitars, so my teles and strat have the alnico thing covered well. I was overjoyed when i discovered the kind of tones that the large coil MFD's deliver, especially with the amps that i use, was just what i was looking for. I also like the z-coils that come in the comanche. These guitars/p'ups have become my preference for performance.

But i think it's cool that Rio Grande provides an option of replacement p'ups for the ASAT that are high quality and delivering different tonal performance. They aren't cheap, but what is these days? Most of us guitarists are on that quest for tone and if we find what we are looking for, that's quite satisfying. Congrat's on your find, and thanks for sharing that!