New G&L Tribute® Series Fallout™ Makes Landfall - Now there's a G&L Tribute® Series Fallout™ to deliver all the fun
at a price that's more accessible to gigging musicians. It starts with a mahogany body loaded with Paul Gagon-designed pickups -
a neck P-90 for rich jangle and a splittable bridge humbucker for meat, grind and spank. Leo's own beefy G&L Saddle Lock bridge
maximizes sustain and improves articulation, while a comfortable medium-C neck with 12" radius makes this axe feel like an old friend.
Read more here: G&L Tribute® Series Fallout™ .
It's interesting to note that mahogany is used quite a lot in the present Tribute line. I'd like to know the kind of "mahogany" and its country of origin as well as what is the rationale behind it.
I remember that, in the past, G&L explained that MFD humbuckers and mahogany was an appreciated combination to tame Leo's latest pick-up designs and got to understand that any MFD (small and large) single coils were also nice with mahogany. And that's how I explained to myself the recent mahogany Comanche and S-500 in the Tribute line. As the USA Fallout is using the classic alder and swamp ash, I'm wondering why G&L went for mahogany instead of swamp ash (and maybe basswood). Supply convienience? Differenciation from the USA line? I'm not saying that it's bad, far from that. I'm just curious. Anybody, any insight?
here in the USA James at The Guitar Store has them on his web site , the price is amazing ..... There is no reason why someone can't afford a G & L now
Fumble fingers wrote:cool , but what is a " meduim C " neck ??
I've asked Dave to characterize what a Tribute "medium C" neck is based upon with the US neck options.
Stay tuned.
--Craig
Xochitl wrote:Nice!
It's interesting to note that mahogany is used quite a lot in the present Tribute line. I'd like to know the kind of "mahogany" and its country of origin as well as what is the rationale behind it.
I remember that, in the past, G&L explained that MFD humbuckers and mahogany was an appreciated combination to tame Leo's latest pick-up designs and got to understand that any MFD (small and large) single coils were also nice with mahogany. And that's how I explained to myself the recent mahogany Comanche and S-500 in the Tribute line. As the USA Fallout is using the classic alder and swamp ash, I'm wondering why G&L went for mahogany instead of swamp ash (and maybe basswood). Supply convienience? Differenciation from the USA line? I'm not saying that it's bad, far from that. I'm just curious. Anybody, any insight?
Here's Dave's replies:
Hi Craig,
I'd characterize the neck as #1b-ish. They tend to be a little shallower than the #1.
The mahogany is from the Asia / South Pacific region, not Africa like the wood we buy for our place. My impression is it's not hard for their factory to keep regular supply and the cost is pretty reasonable. I hope it stays that way because I really like the stuff.
So why'd we go for it on the S-500 and ASAT Special? Just because we can. They have their own supply advantages and production expertise, so I'm always interested in how we tap that to make cool instruments. This wood is a good example. Once we were sure we could do it and make the price work, infatuation with the notion of blending it with MFDs took over.
As for the Tribute Series Fallout, we might have gone with basswood on this one but we were digging the mahogany. If things go well with this model we may expand the range, perhaps trying some different wood and colors.
Question about the neck pickup: is it an actual P-90 (adjustable steel poles charged by a bar magnet or two) or a Fender-style alnico slug pickup in a soapbar housing? I ask because I can't actually see the typical slotted screw heads of "real" P-90 pole pieces a la Gibson in the photo -- they might well be there, of course, but I can't tell for sure.
I have never had a Tribute in my hands , however I have only heard good things about them , My local G & L dealer doesn't hardly stock any G & L's let alone the Tributes but for the price of this Tribute Fallout I could see buying one for my grandson and maybe using it for a couple years until he's big enough to play it one heck of a deal for a new guitar
editorjuno wrote:Question about the neck pickup: is it an actual P-90 (adjustable steel poles charged by a bar magnet or two) or a Fender-style alnico slug pickup in a soapbar housing? I ask because I can't actually see the typical slotted screw heads of "real" P-90 pole pieces a la Gibson in the photo -- they might well be there, of course, but I can't tell for sure.
The pole pieces on the G&L P-90 pickups are slotted.
lefty_major wrote:On the G&L site the Fallout is listed under Tribute and USA sections. Does that mean you could get a lefty Fallout with different neck options?
Fumble fingers wrote:cool , but what is a " meduim C " neck ??
I've asked Dave to characterize what a Tribute "medium C" neck is based upon with the US neck options.
Stay tuned.
--Craig
Xochitl wrote:Nice!
It's interesting to note that mahogany is used quite a lot in the present Tribute line. I'd like to know the kind of "mahogany" and its country of origin as well as what is the rationale behind it.
I remember that, in the past, G&L explained that MFD humbuckers and mahogany was an appreciated combination to tame Leo's latest pick-up designs and got to understand that any MFD (small and large) single coils were also nice with mahogany. And that's how I explained to myself the recent mahogany Comanche and S-500 in the Tribute line. As the USA Fallout is using the classic alder and swamp ash, I'm wondering why G&L went for mahogany instead of swamp ash (and maybe basswood). Supply convienience? Differenciation from the USA line? I'm not saying that it's bad, far from that. I'm just curious. Anybody, any insight?
Here's Dave's replies:
Hi Craig,
I'd characterize the neck as #1b-ish. They tend to be a little shallower than the #1.
The mahogany is from the Asia / South Pacific region, not Africa like the wood we buy for our place. My impression is it's not hard for their factory to keep regular supply and the cost is pretty reasonable. I hope it stays that way because I really like the stuff.
So why'd we go for it on the S-500 and ASAT Special? Just because we can. They have their own supply advantages and production expertise, so I'm always interested in how we tap that to make cool instruments. This wood is a good example. Once we were sure we could do it and make the price work, infatuation with the notion of blending it with MFDs took over.
As for the Tribute Series Fallout, we might have gone with basswood on this one but we were digging the mahogany. If things go well with this model we may expand the range, perhaps trying some different wood and colors.
editorjuno wrote:Question about the neck pickup: is it an actual P-90 (adjustable steel poles charged by a bar magnet or two) or a Fender-style alnico slug pickup in a soapbar housing? I ask because I can't actually see the typical slotted screw heads of "real" P-90 pole pieces a la Gibson in the photo -- they might well be there, of course, but I can't tell for sure.
The pole pieces on the G&L P-90 pickups are slotted.
These guitars come at a heavy price. They also come competing against US made models and US manufacturing, such as the G&L facility in Fullerton.
G&L probably "experiments" with Special Collection wood in the US (Eq Mahogany, Okoume, Indian Walnut/monkeypod, etc) b/c these will be the available materials for offshore production.
I was sorry to see the thread you cited, terminated. This was an important discussion and consideration G&L owners and players need to consider.
These guitars come at a heavy price. They also come competing against US made models and US manufacturing, such as the G&L facility in Fullerton.
G&L probably "experiments" with Special Collection wood in the US (Eq Mahogany, Okoume, Indian Walnut/monkeypod, etc) b/c these will be the available materials for offshore production.
I was sorry to see the thread you cited, terminated. This was an important discussion and consideration G&L owners and players need to consider.
It would take rare circumstances to detect an audible difference between the USA and Tribute models using a Youtube demo.
Maybe if the process was done carefully with exacting detail a high quality mp3 on Soundcloud might be useful. The gear you have to receive and transfer the audio to your ears will be a factor as well.
For instance, there is an abundance of demo video and audio resources for Strat SC's but it takes playing the guitars through the same gear, playing the same thing (a wide variety of styles) and by the same person to pick out noticeable differences. Otherwise, there are just too many unknowns and uncontrolables for this method to be reliable.
You could get some idea searching for P90's in the bridge position but the HB, whether Gogon (Tribute) or SD JB (USA), isn't going to be obvious without you having the guitars in your hands with an amp you are familiar with.
Ten great players with tons of experience using a variety of gear can lead you in 10 conflicting directions while being true to their personal experiences.
Here is a G&L ASAT with MFD's compared to a Tele with Joe Barden rail style noiseless pickups. The guy does a good job duplicating the activity on both instruments. The results are useful. He pretty much leaves it up to you to decide what to think about one compared to the other.
Hopefully someone will do a similar A/B between USA and Tribute Fallouts soon.
one heck of a deal for a new guitar
