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Hogfullofblues
January 13th, 2007, 11:55 AM
Despite my lack of experience, thought I would give this a shot. I will edit to add photos and sound clips, here is info and first impressions:

G&L Tribute S-500 Premium http://www.glguitars.com/frameset.htm
Street price around $500.00 in the US market.
Price paid $299.00 + $42.00 shipping from http://www.buffalobrosguitars.com/ (Thanks again, Tot!)

SPECS:

PICKUPS
3 Fullerton-made G&L Magnetic Field Design single coil pickups
BODY WOOD
Basswood or Swamp Ash
NECK WOOD
Hard Rock Maple with Rosewood or Maple fingerboard
NECK RADIUS
12" (304.8mm)
NECK WIDTH AT NUT
1 5/8" (41.3mm)
TUNING KEYS
18:1 ratio, sealed-back
BRIDGE
G&L Dual Fulcrum vibrato with nickel plated die-cast saddles
CONTROLS
5 position pickup selector plus mini-toggle switch enabling additional pickup combinations of neck+bridge or all 3 pickups together, volume, PTB system
OTHER
G&L Deluxe Gig Bag included in USA (Outside USA please contact your G&L distributor for availability)

BASSWOOD
BODY
Black with Tortoise Shell pickguard

SWAMP ASH
BODY
Blueburst with Pearl pickguard
Natural Gloss with Tortoise Shell pickguard
Tobacco Sunburst with Pearl pickguard
Trans Red with Pearl pickguard

WHAT YOU GET:

Thickly padded free standing gig bag with 2 pockets, allen wrenches, extra trem spring, junk thin cable, warranty (2 years) and registration card.

WHAT YOU DON'T GET:

An owners manual or set up guide, which is also lacking on the G&L website. It does not appear there is a specific manual avail for this, or many other G&L's although there are some on their website. A great source of info on G&L's is the guitarsbyleo site. http://www.guitarsbyleo.com/faq.php3#Q2

COMPONENTS/CONTROLS, ETC:

From what I have read, most all components are G&L designs manufactured to their specs. The pots and switches are tight and right and have that heavy duty resistance feel. The tuners seem fine. The trem arm just pushes in, then is secured/adjusted with a small allen screw on the side of the housing that must be spring loaded. Works fine once adjusted. The trem block looks like it may be nickel plated zinc like the saddles and does not attract a magnet. The bridge base plate is plated steel. No clue what the nut is made of, but is white (plastic?).

837

AS RECEIVED:

Just had to tune it, intonation was then right on. No scratch or noises from pots or switches. No flaws found on finish. Everything fits, no gaps, off center screws, neck fits like glove, etc. Fret wires nice and smooth to neck edge. No buzzes, squeaks or rattles. Action is low. At the 12th fret above the wire on the low E string, a US nickel will slide in clean with a little wiggle room, but 2 dimes will not. My best attempts to actually measure puts it at 2.2 mm. The nut looks remarkably similar under magnification as the one on my Squier 51, same color and little sparkly flecks. One groove (is that the correct term?) is on a bit of an angle at the bottom (not perpendicular to the neck), a couple are not uniform in thickness, the A string is not centered in the groove. I have no clue what this means. Maybe some human adjustment (filing) to an already pre-cut nut? It's too soon to recognize any staying in tune issues, but I'll be keeping an eye on the nut and string tree for replacement if necs.

IMPRESSIONS:

Body thickness is 1 3/4 inch and she ain't a lightweight, but is a good looker. More sustain and no muddy sounds from the low strings when using the same tones that mud up my other guitars. Each pickup selection does alter the tone noticeably when running clean and the treble and bass cut offs respond to minor tweaks and seem to have a pretty linear effect as they are adjusted. Single coil hum is present, but minor, tons less than the 51 at the same settings.

IMHO:

This guitar just buries the 51 and although the Ibanez is also a much higher quality instrument, it too gets left in the dust. The range of tones out of this thing will keep me busy till the cows come home. I think I am learning something about pickup character and quality here. The build/assembly quality seems flawless as was the set up and this is the lowest action I have ever played and am already spoiled. OK, this is only the third guitar I have owned and only had it 3 days, but is the first that has no real issues or annoyances or problems right out of the box. Time will tell, though, if that nut becomes one. There are lots of great possibilities at the $500.00 price point and I believe these Tributes would compare favorably to any of them, and probably out shine many. It sounds like Buffalo Bros blows these out from time to time and at $341.00, I can't imagine any of the competition holding up at that price.

SOUND SAMPLES:

Geez, this was more difficult than I thought. Too much flippin switches, trying to play equal volume, go quick to keep it small, pick slipping. Anyway, clean tone, no pedals or effects using the Pod, first random amp I hit which was 1968 Plexi.

Low register just cycling thru the 7 pick up configurations as per the diagram above. Trying to show the variety thru the different pickup combinations more than finding the best demo of tone here. 1-5 normal, 5 expanded then 4 expanded. 841

marnold
January 13th, 2007, 12:40 PM
This link (http://www.glguitars.com/tribute/instruments/S-500/index.asp) will work better for the S-500.