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  #16  
Old 06-26-2019, 06:25 PM
printer2 printer2 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by roylor4 View Post
Well, I partially disagree. I have both a G&L Tribute Bluesboy and a Squier '72 Thinline Tele. They both have different strengths but I have gravitated more towards the Squier since I acquired it.

The G&L has more robust hardware (bridge, saddles, tuners) and a great feeling satin neck. It's main weakness - the HB pickup at the neck is very dark and muddy with no clarity. The G&L also loses tons of gain when you roll back the treble knob.

The Squier has a gloss neck and fretboard (I didn't like this at first but have adapted). This particular model Squier also has thin-ish frets which I do not care for - I strongly prefer medium jumbos. It's strength? The pickups. These are the same p'ups as used in the MIM Thinline and they are nothing short of awesome. Very high definition with the clarity of SC's and the punch of P-90's. The pickups also maintain their gain when you roll off the trebles. I can nail high-gain Santana tones with the Squier but not the G&L.

If I had to do it over again I would probably get the G&L ASAT rather than the Bluesboy.

The neck radius and feel of both guitars is quite different.

I also own a G&L Tribute Ascari with P-90's and it's build quality exceeds both of the guitars above. So, it depends on which model you get and preferences tonally. In the hardware department, the Tributes are quite a bit nicer than the Squiers (IMO).
I had the ASAT semi-hollow, I liked the neck pickup but the bridge pickup did not do it for me. I ended up selling it because of health reasons it is hard for me to play a Tele styled guitar for long and found I could a Strat. I agree that the G&L tone pot had more roll off than I thought necessary but that could be modified with a $1 capacitor. I like the neck profile but then again different people like different things. As said the hardware was of good quality.

I had a MIM Tele years ago but gave it to my nephew and got it back to repair the electronics. I played it for a bit before giving it back, it was OK but nothing made me like it more than the ASAT. I also got my brother's Squire to set up for him, I made it playable, I don't know why they come from the factory set up for playing slide.
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  #17  
Old 06-27-2019, 02:06 PM
pagedr pagedr is online now
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Just bought a G&L ASAT Classic Tribute because I've really been missing my old MIM Tele that I sold a couple years ago, and didn't want to shell out a ton of money on a Fender at this time. Got a brand new one on sale for $300 and I like it a lot so far. Needed some slight adjustments out of the box (intonation was a bit off for sure) but beyond that it's a great sounding and playing guitar. Highly recommended to someone who is looking to get into electric playing or just wants to add a cheaper Tele to their arsenal. If you scout around Reverb there are a number of these models priced really well.
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  #18  
Old 06-27-2019, 02:46 PM
Willie_D Willie_D is offline
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I have a 2015 USA G&L Legacy that is fantastic in every way. I've made 2 mods - I shielded the pickguard and cavity to reduce hum, and I replaced the string tree with one from Mastery, just because.
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  #19  
Old 12-26-2019, 09:23 PM
Pork Rind Pork Rind is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by roylor4 View Post
The G&L has more robust hardware (bridge, saddles, tuners) and a great feeling satin neck. It's main weakness - the HB pickup at the neck is very dark and muddy with no clarity. The G&L also loses tons of gain when you roll back the treble knob.
I'm super late to this game, but if you still have the Bluesboy, consider replacing the 250k ohm volume pot with a 500k one, and add a resistor to the bridge pickup wire at the switch. The problem is not the neck pickup, it's great. I’m a huge G&L fan, but the pot value choice in the Bluesboy is kind of a head scratcher for me.
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  #20  
Old 12-27-2019, 01:41 AM
rockabilly69 rockabilly69 is offline
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I own a top of the line Fender Custom Shop Tele, but I like this G&L guitar just as much, a USA Nitro finished Legacy that cost about half of what the Tele cost...

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  #21  
Old 12-27-2019, 07:07 AM
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Bob Womack Bob Womack is online now
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When I was first looking for a Strat in 1999 I was more impressed with the American G&Ls than the American Fenders. I ended up with a G&L S500:



The Trem is far nicer and smoother than the standard Fender Trem, pretty much a development of the Wilkinson Trem. This one has played a ton of sessions with me. It is extremely flexible and always comes ready with a sound, without a bunch of tweaking. I much preferred the shouldering of the neck on the G&Ls over the Fenders of the time. Fender has made some strides on quality since then.

I haven't had a chance to play a Tribute model.

Bob
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  #22  
Old 12-27-2019, 04:41 PM
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Default G&L S-500

I have an American made G&L S-500, an American Standard Strat, and two American Standard Telecasters. The G&L was purchased after all the Fenders because I could not find a pre-owned G&L with the fret board specs I wanted.

I have some high end guitars. The G&L S-500 I have is the finest and most versatile guitar I've ever played. Every person that's played it has a look on their face that's priceless. For me, Leo saved the best for last.
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