G&L Tribute Legacy Review

The stratocaster is no stranger to me, since I grew up playing them in the 1970s. This G&L Tribute Legacy, however, is everything a stratocaster should be. The neck is made of hard rock maple with a maple fingerboard. The body is swamp ash.

The neck is also perfectly oriented to the body, with equal gaps on the high and low E strings where it joins the body. Another plus is the super tight neck pocket.

The medium/jumbo frets are impeccable and perfectly uniform throughout. All of the fret ends have been filled with material matching the maple fingerboard. The neck profile is “man size” - with a C shape that is tapered. It reminds me of an early sixties stratocaster neck, without the rosewood board. Robert Cray’s signature strat has a similar taper, but the Legacy is wider, making it a joy to play fingerstyle. The thicker neck profile also provides hand and finger relief, similar to a classical guitar.

The Legacy features three single coil pickups based on Leo Fender’s AlNiCo V rods and bobbins. These coils have an attractive sizzle and compression that sound exactly like the vintage strats I’ve played. Very detailed with a lot of dimension. All in all, these pickups are terrific, especially the neck and middle positions.

I decided to take a look under the hood. The volume and tone pots are Mighty Mite, which I have used for many years. The 5 way switch is super quiet, even moreso than a CRL. I won’t be changing any of these components anytime soon, since it would be hard to improve on.

The Duel Fulcrum Vibrato is stamped G&L. It has a thick chrome finish adding a luscious high end look to it. I have never been a big fan of Fender six or two point tremolo assemblies and usually end up blocking them, because of tuning issues. Nonetheless, I decided to give the G&L DF a whirl and set the bridge parallel to the body about 1/8 inches. Amazingly, it stays in tune. The stability is so good that I have decided not to block the trem, thus letting it float, despite my not using a wammy bar.

The body is a dark blueburst poly finish over swamp ash. The finish is flawless as is the neck. A lighter blueburst though would have brought out the swamp ash grain. While the body is on the heavier side, it is much more resonant than the 1970 strat bodies that were made of Northern ash. The Legacy has a bright sonic quality with focused lows and a balanced midrange.

Overall, this Tribute Legacy is exceptional and the build quality is impeccable. There is not a scratch or mark on this guitar. IRealistically, it is easily the equivalent of a Fender American Standard, but with a much better neck, pickups and tremolo system!

Lastly, I don’t think there is a guitar company anywhere that can compete with the quality of this Legacy for under $500. It is truly that outstanding.

Excellent Review

I recorded a few MP3 samples of the Tribute Legacy. In the first cut, I improvise over some chord changes for a spacy blues jam along the lines of Hendrix. The lead part uses the Legacy's neck coil, and the rhythm part uses the middle coil.

http://k007.kiwi6.com/hotlink/ir86yojr2 ... yJamII.mp3

The second cut is a solo jazz improvisation around the chord changes of Misty by Eroll Garner using the neck pickup of the Legacy. There are no effects, just straight into an amp.

http://k007.kiwi6.com/hotlink/7iaqmohvs ... acyGtr.mp3

The third cut is the Legacy played through a clean channel. It comprises two tracks of interweaving guitar parts.

http://k007.kiwi6.com/hotlink/4fu2s7s68 ... DuoGtr.mp3

Overall, I think this guitar has a serious vintage vibe and can do fingerstyle jazz very well. Great pickups for recording, although difficult to hear it on a compressed format like MP3.

Last edited by CSVeteran on Fri Jul 18, 2014 1:55 pm, edited 3 times in total.

Your tone to me on the first mp3 was very much Knopfler, congrats.
I've been debating on a Legacy Strat, this may just have been what I needed to hear. Never heard one before, thanks
Jim

Thanks Jim - with those three pickups on your ASAT (moniker pic), it looks like you may alreasy be close to a Legacy strat sound!

Nice clean sounds. What were you running the Legacy through?

I agree with you, CSVeteran. I've been using a trib legacy for a few months now and I love it's sweet tones and great feel. I sold my strats a month later, as it just smoked them. Mine has a black finish so it's basswood body, not sure if that makes a difference. The guys in my band are kind of amazed that i scored such a nice axe for great price. It keeps in tune pretty well once the strings are stretched out, and i use a little nut lube now. I don't use the vibe bar much, but when i do (i drink dos equis ) i find the tuning resets well if i lean the bridge a little sharp and let it spring back. My string alignment is not perfect ( as with many G&L's i've seen), but close enough.

Nice clean sounds. What were you running the Legacy through?

Both clips were run through a Blackstar 5 watt tube combo with a 12" speaker. The second clip (Misty) was at lower volume without any breakup.

Last edited by CSVeteran on Tue Jul 15, 2014 11:30 am, edited 1 time in total.

drjho - I had no idea the Legacy and Tributes were this good. Had I known that, I would have been playing them years ago. The only Fender strat production coils I really like, out of the many I used over the years, are the CS 54s. However, these Legacy ALNiCo Vs are much closer to the vintage sound, because of the sizzle , subtle compression and detail they exhibit. That's how I remember vintage coils sounding. The Legacy also feels more solid than the Fender strats I've played. It may be because the neck heel extends deeper into the neck pocket, instead of the fretboard for the 22nd fret extending over the body?

I am already looking at the G&L Ascari line, next.

I'm trying to decide on my next ASAT and you're posting this great review.

Great review! I've played a few Tribute ASAT's and owned one and have always been impressed by their quality. They are a true G&L product.

The TL is a heavier guitar than most strats i've played, most likely related to the quality of the materials ( and the trem/bridge, the center block ) but that contributes to its resonance and tone in a good way. I'm used to toting a LP so it's not a big deal for my shoulder, with a good strap. The pickups are a treat. These are not MIM fender pup's by a longshot. They stand up to the best MIA strat pup's i've heard.

I am interested in getting into a guitar or 2 that have the mfd pups. I've been scheming on a usa comanche, and perhaps an ASAT with the big p-90 like mfd's, maybe with the "thinline" semihollow. It's likely sufficiently different from my tele that it would justify aquisition!

Thanks for the thumbs up all. It looks like some very cool people hang out on this forum.

I just added a third MP3 of some clean sounds of the Legacy.

To the staff at G&L, these are great guitars.