Looking To Buy Another Tribute Legacy

Thu Jul 31, 2014 12:45 pm

I've decided to sell my Hwy One strat and put it into another Tribute Legacy.

My current Tribute Legacy has a swamp ash body and maple neck. I am now looking at another one in LPB with a rosewood fretboard and basswood body.

I have never owned a guitar with a basswood body and was wondering how it will differ from the swamp ash body and all maple neck? The pickups are the same in both guitars.

Has anyone played both Tribute models? If so, what are the difference betweem them?

Thanks

Re: Looking To Buy Another Tribute Legacy

Thu Jul 31, 2014 6:37 pm

I would predict: minor differences if at all, unless you're Eric Johnson, who can hear the differences in tone between which 9 volt you use in your chorus pedal, or whether you leave the back plate off or on the guitar.
I have the black trib legacy with the maple board. has basswood body. supposedly softer wood. seems pretty hard to me. i haven't taken an ice pick to it yet, but looks great, and to my experienced ears, sounds pretty damn amazing. feels great. the more i practice and gig with it, the more i like it. ("i do think it's good...", adrian belew). i've always thought swamp ash and padauk and mahogany were supposed to be great tonewoods, but what i really value is the resonance of the guitar when it's unplugged. if you can hear and feel the strings resonating through the body in a sustained fashion, you've got something. if you have good string alignment and a good neck setup, you've got something more.
Pickups matter alot. You may be best served by an S500 or a comanche, something with the MFD palate. then you'd have the alnico magic, and the mfd. the sharp cheddar and the Brie. I wouldn't worry about the differences between the miller lite and the bud lite! Best wishes,

Re: Looking To Buy Another Tribute Legacy

Thu Jul 31, 2014 6:54 pm

I'll second the S 500 or Comanche to complement what you already have !!

Re: Looking To Buy Another Tribute Legacy

Thu Jul 31, 2014 8:00 pm

Fumble fingers wrote:I'll second the S 500 or Comanche to complement what you already have !!

I'll second that. I have an S-500 (not the Tribute model though, but judging from my Asat Classic Tribute they can't be bad), and it's killer. beats any other strat type guitar I've heard

Re: Looking To Buy Another Tribute Legacy

Fri Aug 01, 2014 1:01 pm

Thanks for the suggestions. The S-500 uses ceramic based pickup coils, which is not really the sound I am going for. I prefer vintage style coils with Alnico magnets over the hotter ceramic coils.

Re: Looking To Buy Another Tribute Legacy

Fri Aug 01, 2014 2:59 pm

I played a trib legacy with the red finish/red headstock and the rosewood board at a local music store and the neck, which has a satin finish, had a different feel (very nice, same profile, different texture) than the maple board neck on mine which is lacquered. That one has the basswood body, was nice looking. I did not compare the sound plugged in, but I assume it was similar.

Re: Looking To Buy Another Tribute Legacy

Fri Aug 01, 2014 7:42 pm

Thanks John - that's very helpful. I was wondering if the neck profile with the rosewood fretboard was the same as the all maple one on my Tribute Legacy, which I really like.

I figure I should own both types, since this Legacy is one of the only guitars I have owned where I haven't had to change something out (pups, pots, tuners, etc). It says volumes about the quality of these guitars.