Recommendations on a guitar

[Trolli720]

I'm hoping someone can help me. I've been GASing pretty badly and everytime I am able to take away a choice on my list, I end up coming back to it. I have a G&L ASAT Special Tribute, and I love it. I also have a Telecaster with a blue lace sensor, and red dually lace sensor. I'm still not quite sure what I really want, but I know I want a guitar with a tremolo. I like to do live-looping, and tend to use a lot of pedals.

As of now, I would like to have a guitar that can do kind of a post-rock, ambient sound (GodSpeed You! Black Emperor, Mogwai, Explosions in the Sky), but also kind of an Indie Rock/Math Rock (Foals, Minus the Bear).

I'm stuck between a S-500, Comanche, and a Jaguar. I don't have many stores nearby, or ones that deal G&L's (unfortunately, the one in town went out of business due to a Guitar Center opening up). I've seen a used tribute Comanche on eBay for $450, but didn't know if that was good asking price for it. A custom order would be nice, but 4-digits is out of my range for the time being.

Can anyone help me narrow the choices down?

[louis cyfer]

you can get a used usa s500 for 700 or so all day. comanche too if it's not bem and flamed maple.

[KenC]

The Comanche is one of the few G&L models I haven't played (yet), but everything I've heard about it suggests a very clean sound from the Z-Coil pickups. Since you're planning to use a lot of effects, that could be the ticket. The used price for a USA model won't be quite as low as an S-500, but you could probably track one down for less than $1000 without too much searching. These have a reputation for having a bit of a learning curve, but there is a post on "Comanches for Dummies" in the Knowledgebase that covers the guitar's settings in detail.

As Louis mentioned, used USA S-500s are plentiful in the $700 ballpark. You can find Legacies for about $100 less, if you prefer the Alnico sound to the MFD pickups. I briefly owned a mid-90s Legacy, which handled effects very nicely. My S-500 does as well, but I can't really compare it to recent production instruments (it has a mahogany body and the original square-ended pickups).

Personally, I prefer maple-bodied Leo-era guitars for anything that involves heavy effects (e.g., Moogerfoogers and other modulation and/or delay pedals). I've used my Superhawk with a lot of modulating and filtering pedals. It's a different sound than the typical Strat-style setup, but I was happy with it. Superhawks are fairly difficult to come by these days, though. Leo-era Invaders show up for sale pretty regularly, don't seem to have the price tag of the other G&L "super Strats" (they seem to run around $500-$650), and combine the Superhawk's bridge humbucker with S-500 middle and neck single coils. Almost all of them were equipped with Kahlers or Leo Fender Fine Tuner vibratos.

What kind of amp will you be using? That may factor into the choice of best guitar for your style.

Ken

[Trolli720]

Louis: Thanks, I will keep definitely look if I can find a USA model.

KenC: Thanks for the input. I heard that the Z-Coil pickups and the Comanche was versatile and took a bit of exploring to finding your tone. I guess I would like to have a nice clean sound, but something that can deal with overdrive and lots of delay. I read that an S-500 is a bit more forgiving than a Comanche if you happen to make a mistake, and that the Comanche might "detect" the dynamics of your pick attack more. But again, I don't know a lot about Comanches.

I'm sure that I could find out with any of the guitars by just taking the time to experiment. I will be using a VOX AC15

[offplanetfilms]

My Legacy sounds best with my Vox Ac15. It’s especially mesmerising with delay. My S-500 sounds better in dirt territory on that amp, but it has a wider tone palate overall. Sometimes the cleans are a less impressive than the overdrive, that’s where the Legacy excels with the Ac15.

[NickHorne]

Should definitely try a Comanche. My Z3-equipped Asat is great clean or unclean through my slightly modded (de-brittled) Deluxe Reverb, which is similar territory to your Vox.
It takes to pedals very well too, though I don't do that much outside of sessions. And of course there's no hum, which is great when you're doing anything gainy. The pups are very versatile, I can do a nice rocky turbo-strat, a warm sweet Bill Frisell or a real old Bakersfield / Byrds Clarence White tele with mine. At least, I mean that I can sound like their guitars, which of course is not quite the same thing....
It's hard choosing G&L's, isn't it? They're great.

[helle-man]

The Tribute Comanche on ebay for $450 sounds good to me. Don't be afraid of the Tributes. In some ways they're better than the USA's (lighter weight woods usually), and they're certainly a bargain because they still use the Fullerton-made PU's.

I find I can't go by other people's opinions on gear. It's best to just find a decent deal on something, buy it & try it out for a while, then either keep it or sell it and try something else.

$450 is a decent price for a Tribute Comanche. Everyone should experience Z coils.

My 2¢

[FidgetStone]

Another often overlooked option is the Legacy 2HB. The two humbuckers can be switched to single coil mode which yields some really sweet clean tones that work well with with delays, reverb and all sorts of pedals.

The humbuckers work very nicely in dirtier modes as well as clean. Throw in judicious use of the tremolo with some delay and reverb and you can get some super moody, atmospheric sounds with any level of dirt or cleanness required.

Of the three guitars I own, the Legacy 2HB is by far the most flexible. I think that it gets overlooked because it doesn't sound exactly like a Strat or a Les Paul. To me, that's a good thing. It has it's own voice with a very wide palet.

My other two guitars are an ASAT Classic and an American Deluxe Strat. If I had to sell one today it would be the Srat. If I had to sell two I would go into such a state of depression that I might not ever recover. In my opinion, for the music you like, the 2HB would be a very viable option. Used ones can be had for the prices mentioned above. I paid $750 plus shipping for mine about 10 or so months ago.

Enjoy the selection process . . .

[Trolli720]

offplanetfilms: Thanks for the recommendation. I had the Legacy on my list and I really like the tones of Strat users such as Frusciante, Hendrix, and Gilmour. It seems as though it wouldn't be a bad choice at all.

Should definitely try a Comanche...
It's hard choosing G&L's, isn't it? They're great.

I must admit, the first time I saw a G&L ASAT, I was a little put off because I wanted a Fender Tele. I saw the pickguard and pickups and just thought it was ugly. But, I used to think that Tele shaped guitars had the ugliest bodies ever, and that I would buy a Les Paul/PRS...Oh how an opinion can change after finding the right guitar. Right now, I kind of do the whole fanboying thing when it comes to G&L's. But thanks for the recommendation!

The Tribute Comanche on ebay for $450 sounds good to me. Don't be afraid of the Tributes. In some ways they're better than the USA's (lighter weight woods usually), and they're certainly a bargain because they still use the Fullerton-made PU's.

I find I can't go by other people's opinions on gear. It's best to just find a decent deal on something, buy it & try it out for a while, then either keep it or sell it and try something else.

$450 is a decent price for a Tribute Comanche. Everyone should experience Z coils.

Thanks helle-man. I wouldn't mind a Tribute. The only thing I somewhat care about is having a maple neck. And in regards to weight, I feel as though my ASAT Special is pretty heavy...I'm hoping that the Comanche wouldn't be as heavy, but I can get used to it.

Another often overlooked option is the Legacy 2HB. The two humbuckers can be switched to single coil mode which yields some really sweet clean tones that work well with with delays, reverb and all sorts of pedals.

Enjoy the selection process . . .

I had a Legacy Special in my list, but wasn't too sure on it and also wanted to remove some selections. Any input on the 2HB vs Special?

[blargfromouterspace]

I had a Legacy Special in my list, but wasn't too sure on it and also wanted to remove some selections. Any input on the 2HB vs Special?

I'd take a 2HB over a Special. Humbuckers sound much better to me when they're full sized ones.