Question on a used Comanche

[phil110567]

Hi there and thank you all for valuable info and content.

I'm shopping for a USA G&L Comanche and I've found one second hand.

The ad says it is a genuine usa guitar.

The SN in the top back of the headstock is CFLxxxxx which according to Guitarsbyleo is G&L USA from late 90's to 2011. The shape of the SN and the font used for the decal is in the same kind of what I've seen on picture on this site.
The logo of the headstock is the white-ish "G&L R Commanche" (R fo registered sign).
But there is no "Guitars by Leo". That's why I have a doubt...
In fact, you can sand the "Tribute" and voilà you have an USA guitar.

On the other hand the guitar comes with a black G&L flight case. I don't know if the Tribute come with a flight case.
The guitar is priced on the high side and I'd like to wait a little bit before visiting the owner.

Do you know if there's an evidence of the origin of this instrument (USA / Tribute) ?

Thank you by advance !

[Craig]

Hi there and thank you all for valuable info and content.

I'm shopping for a USA G&L Comanche and I've found one second hand.

The ad says it is a genuine usa guitar.

The SN in the top back of the headstock is CFLxxxxx which according to Guitarsbyleo is G&L USA from late 90's to 2011. The shape of the SN and the font used for the decal is in the same kind of what I've seen on picture on this site.
The logo of the headstock is the white-ish "G&L R Commanche" (R fo registered sign).
But there is no "Guitars by Leo". That's why I have a doubt...
In fact, you can sand the "Tribute" and voilà you have an USA guitar.

On the other hand the guitar comes with a black G&L flight case. I don't know if the Tribute come with a flight case.
The guitar is priced on the high side and I'd like to wait a little bit before visiting the owner.

Do you know if there's an evidence of the origin of this instrument (USA / Tribute) ?

Thank you by advance !

Please post photos front and back, including closeups of the headstock front and back.

Does the serial number begin with "CFL" because it should be "CLF"? See: Serial number significance.

Looking forward to see your photos
For posting photos here see this post: Tutorial: Posting photos.

[Craig]

The logo of the headstock is the white-ish "G&L R Commanche" (R fo registered sign).
But there is no "Guitars by Leo". That's why I have a doubt...
In fact, you can sand the "Tribute" and voilà you have an USA guitar.

Here are a couple of Comanche headstocks without "Guitars by Leo"
1997 Comanche


2001 Comanche from 2001 G&L Catalog:


Also, reference this post: "Guitars by Leo" missing on headstock....?.

Regarding removing "Tribute Series" from underneath the G&L logo would make it look like a USA model, there much more that
would need to be done, ie. such as Serial number and model name script. See this post: Another Faked Tribute Legacy to look like a US G&L Legacy.

[phil110567]

hank you for your answer. The hedastock is similar of the one I've seen in the ad.By the way this model is gorgeous

[Craig]

One more item to check is the number of pickguard screws; the USA model has eight, while the Tribute Comanche has eleven.
Tribute Comanche:

USA Comanche: