G&L Legacy, Comanche and S-500 demo by Tom McNalley
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- čas přidán 9. 09. 2024
- Get a side by side look at the three double cutaway, single coil guitars in the G&L line, made in Fullerton, CA. Hear the difference between the alnico, Z-coil and MFD pickups and get a players view of where each guitar excels.
Guitar playing by Tom McNalley
All Things Video by Symonty
Eight years later and still one of, if not the best comparison reviews on YT!
Been diggin the G and L Comanche. I wants it. My new precious it will be.
I used to be a G&L dealer and have had all 3 of these guitars in my hands for extended periods of time and would agree that's it's just a matter of what you like. They are great guitars and the "dual-fulcrum" vibrato systems are great!!!. The Commanche has a crisp well defined tone like nothing else I've heard and the Legacy is a Strat. I am more of a Tele guy so that I would not want the thin wirery spank of the classic strat like other folks would. The smoother sounding S-500 is for me! Love that hi-fi sound of the MDF pickups and I should had kept one while I had the chance. (My "go-to" electric is an ASAT Bluesboy.)
Love the tone of that Comanche!!!
This is the Video I was waiting for. Thank you very much. Fantastic Instruments in a fair comparison. And played by a good guitarist. A shootout as it should be.
Thanks! I had a great time making the video and I'm glad that came through. In truth the guitars did most of the work though...
Thnk you, super informative! You are a great player!
Was fun, and a lot of work, thx for the oppertunity.
Nice breakdown of the three. Digging the jazz tones out of the 500.
I have a Comanche and the ASAT special are my go to guitars. I love them both the Comanche is totally noiseless! and has treble and bass controls and a push-pull knob to give you 7 pickup combinations the ASAT special is like a 58 Les Paul with single coil pickups humbucking mode in the middle very great both guitars.
I completely agree. I generally say-- comanche in the studio and asat live
the best strats leo ever made are g&l.
yup
Personally I enjoy the music man cutlass.
Agree!!!
What a sweet tone !!! Legacy sound amazing !!!
Thanks good video, great chops, specially the Jazzy stuff !
Legacy is now my dream guitar, am not buying the American professional Stratocaster anymore
well did you buy it finally?
@@Ravenarh not yet, can't afford yet but I wish to someday
@@Ravenarh Thank you, blessings
I'm waiting for UPS to deliver my S-500 now!
Thanks for the video, I have a custom s-500 and it is really special!
Good review. It's true about the S500 pickups. I just played one and the pickups knocked me over. So clear and articulate. Best strat pups Ive ever heard.
G&L's are the best guitars Leo Fender ever made. After playing a G&L Fenders seem like G&L prototypes. They have better playability, better sounding pickups, they look better too. Simply put they are Fenders that evolved. I'm really surprised that G&L aren't more popular, I don't think they do the best job with marketing, if they did they wouldn't be so affordable.
I love the joy in your playing!
Nice job avoiding the use of the word "Stratocaster" throughout the entire video.
hahahaha yeah it was a dance, thats for sure
@@mrmctom out of curiosity does something bad happens if you say Stratocaster lol
@@JavaoftheLava yep its copyrighted by Fender
I've been waiting for a side-by-side-by-side shootout like this for a while. Thanks!
much appreciated! i had a great time making it.
exactly what i was looking for. great overview. I agree with Leo- best guitars he made- the overall package of these blows away the modern fender.
much appreciated!
The offset shape of the Z-coils isn't what makes them hum cancelling, it's just a byproduct of the physical need for room to have two coils in the space between the D and G strings.
my goodness you are creative in your playing
Thanks for the dilemma of making it even more harder to chose one of these superb instruments, I think it's an S500 with a few customization!
Thanks for the demo, I was interested in the Player series Stratocaster but need to look into these G&L more. Would love to see G&L HQ, not far, and an excuse to stop by Disneyland, lol
Andrew Aviles I was in the same position last week, was about to lay down some hard earned $$ on a buttercream player strat but at the last minute bought a s500 tribute (similar price) and I find much much better.
@@patrickhernandez2471 I picked up a new Comanche tribute online and it was in terrible shape. To be fair someone probably abused it and the return policy, but even with it's issues I wasn't feeling the sound. The neck felt great though.
I like the Comanche and the S-500, I didn't know much about these guitars; their website is very out of date. I liked how Comanche and s-500 have unique tones and features.
Great Demo and accurate review!! My legacy H S S is my main guitar that I take on all the gigs and it always delivers. If you haven't tried a G&L yet and are interested they are the real deal
Nice comparison. I've got a Comanche and an older Legacy which is really contoured much differently than the post '97 models .....now you make me want to get an S-500....
thanks! yeah, the s-500 is a beast....
Good video but I noticed a couple of things you didnt mention. Firstly although the two controls below the volume are marked tone but they are in fact G&L's PTB System which means the two 'tone' controls actually control trebble and bass. Secondly the pole pieces in the guitars with the MFD pickups are adjustable. This isnt meant as a to be critical its just something I noticed.
@k halliday I have PTB on my MIM strat. They pots are greater values than a standard 250k, and wide open, the treble is brighter. No sweat, I just roll the treble off some. Need to clean up some drive? Cut some bass.
Z-3 pups win for me. Nice video, thanks. I subscribed.
Played a lot of Strats in my life, still have two
. I bought an S500 and it put them all to shame. What a power house and plays like silk.
Does it play clean well?
@@nicksonthevet Yes, Clean is what I mostly play. Maybe with some over drive sometimes.
@@billkoetting5197 US or Indonesian? My Indo Tribute outplays all my other guitars, cant imagine how good the US ones are
@@sagganuts My S-500 is Indonesian. I bought new from Sweetwater. I told the sales engineer I was looking for a Fender Strat or Tele I didn't know which. He said have you considered a G&L? I said a friend has a Legacy that I really like and to me, a G&L is a real Fender. He said check out their S-500 it will play and sound like a Strat or a Tele. It has the last wiring design Leo Fender ever did and by changing the pickup switch you can get both sounds. Mainly because it is the only produced guitar [at that time] that will play the neck and the bridge pickups like a tele. It also will play all three pickups at the same time, for a different sound. I haven't been disappointed with it, and it's a powerhouse.
great review, almost bought a Comanche but after seeing the comparison the Legacy nails the true Strat sound...thx.
yeah they're interesting to play side by side for that reason.
Very nice straight forward comparison of the best strat styles anywhere. So glad we got to hear the guitars "clean" compared with some reviews that seem like effects review rather than guitar. I love, absolutely love, my Comanche. Like a racehorse, need to know how to ride to get most from it. Comanche will be teaching me things about music for rest of my life I reckon.
I really appreciate you saying this. Many demo videos I saw used a lot of distortion and fuzz and I thought-- well, where's the guitar? The G&Ls have such a beautiful tone and I wanted to showcase that. Two things I wasn't really able to get in this video though-- 1) the real in-person difference between the MFDs (s-500 and comanche) and the alnico pickups. The MFDs are just massive. But normalizing the audio was needed for consistency in the video. (in retrospect I should have put an oscilloscope photo in!) 2) the way pedals take the MFD signal. They love it and operate to my ears at their perfection. Anyway-- thanks for watching and commenting, I really appreciate you noticing that detail.
A clean demo without effects. I want one of each!!!! Unfortunately, my wife will only let me have one. So it must be the Legacy......
That tone is just awesome!!!!!
Man you can't beat that Legacy for killer Strat tone. No contest!
All Black Commanche .. gotta give those ghosts a place to Dance and Teach.
I love my Natural Swamp Ash and Hard-Rock Maple Comanche, So diggin on your groove. Thank You.
would've loved to hear a section with more distortion
I have the S500 sunburst with mahogany body, and tonally, there is such diversity between pickup selections. It has a mahogany body also which carries a little more weight with it. It would be hard to find another Strat type guitar as versatile as the s500.
That Comanche would look even better with a dark Ebony fretboard.
The Legacy is completely different thank the other two - the ultimate funky/clarity guitar. The Comanche and S500 are very similar, so makes sense to go Comanche for the noiseless. So 1 Legacy, 1 Comanche will do it! :D
Thanks-I had never heard of G&L-they sound really good and would be an excellent alternative for a Fender-especially since it really is LOL.-Gonna take a look at some more and some prices.
Subscribed. Great analysis of all guitars!
Own all three of these models. Best strat style guitars out there imho. I dont own any Fenders anymore, sold them. Wish more people knew about G&L, see a lot of people spend a lot more on a say Fender and the guitar is not nearly as nice as a G&L model prices $500+ less.
Me crashing my head against. wishing SRV had a G&L. It all happens in Dreams.
Best comparison of these models I've seen...cool Hendrix style playing, too!
thanks! can't pick up a strat and not have some Jimi come in!
that butterscotch matches the fingerboard awesome
wouldn't have it any other way
Excellent review. Thank you for uploading.
After watching my personal favorite is:
S-500
Comanche
Legacy.
All sound great
If I could only keep one of my 30+ guitars: vintage, custom, boutique, standards etc, I'd grab my Comanche would without hesitation- and guard it like gold!
thats it right there
Damn right best guitar ever including any strat ,l.p., hollow body it gives you all of the tones anyone could want
That says a lot. Can you get close to classic strat tones w it though? Lower the pole pieces?
S-500 *Rocks !*
yup
Good Explanation.
much appreciated!
I had the S-500. Pickups are crazy strong and I found them to be great for solos, but way too powerful for rhythm (at least for me). If I could have 20 electrics, the S-500 would be in my lineup. But I'm trying to limit myself to 2 electrics, so it didn't make the cut.
really like the tone of the Comanche guitar with the MFD Pickups
yeah its just MASSIVE
This was really helpful
Fingerstyle with black one is what i’m looking for!
I am considering the S-500 but after listening to this video I may want to go with the Comanche.
I think that legacy have really start clean voice,the other sound more close voice
Good video. I enjoyed it, but without being too critical I felt it wasn't a very good comparison. They all sound good but their strengths were not really shown off. Sound levels were uneven between guitars and between guitar and voice. Also there was a lack of highs across the board. You said you like to demo guitars without effects but had a lot of reverb from the amp and I guess a room mic. I find it distracting, but it seems a trend to have excessive reverb in guitar demo videos. I know the Commanche has a great lead sound but it wasn't really shown here. Are these your personal guitars? I like your playing, you really enjoy it. Thanks.
I had fender am strat. Then I bought a G&L S500. Then I sold the fender. S500 is great.
FWIW, the Comanche also uses MFD pickups, they're just arranged in a way to be noise cancelling.
I have an ASAT Classic S with MFD pickups. (It's like a Nashville tele.) It's a very quiet guitar, much quieter than my Strat.
yeah. the z-coils have a slightly different sound but they're for sure MFD!
Legacy = Hendrix, S-500 = Stevie Ray Vaughn. Comanche doesn't seem to have a personality but very noise free. Terrific demo. Useful all the way through, but for a quick comparison, start at 11 mins in. Thanks. Terrific, informative video.
I have to admit-- while I love my comanche, the best comanche I ever played was a semi-hollow one. It was unreal. But I use this one in the studio *all* the time. It records beautifully and never takes any noise on.
I have the Legacy, and the tone destroys my fender custom shop ‘56 reissue strat. I had a Comanche, and found it didn’t really ‘say’ anything somehow, lacked character. Lovely to play but never moved me.
Ill take one of each!
Thanks for not using heavy effects.
I have a G&L Legacy and a Fender American Standard Stratocaster. Love both, but I prefer the G&L!
Seems to my ears that the Legacy w/tone rolled off would be an outstanding jazz guitar
the T+B pots have a smoothness that can get in that neighborhood, sure
though it would have to be fixed bridge - and it would help a lot to bring up the string gauge and go flatwound, as on any jazz guitar
S500 great for jazz too
On the tribute -- are the necks thin like the old Fenders? The new Fenders feel like half of a louisville slugger
Hi, where can I buy the Comanche in that color? Made in USA?
I just need Tom's skill. :)
I played fenders for years and years. Then I bought a Comanche. Now when I play a fender it just feels like a step backwards. The z-coil pickups are QUIET! Even with substantial gain.
yyyeeeeaaaahhhhhhh
How hard is it to get classic strat tones out of it though?
Is that a Brian Jonestown riff at 11:10
A bit more info. on the pickups please. Of the 3 mentioned, which one do you recommend for the SRV or Hendrix sound, tone? (I would be playing through a Marshall Lead amp.)
If you want to mimic those sounds, the Legacy is the closest since it has regular alnico single coils (very nice ones at that)
just got my 1st G&L, bluesboy from a 25 special run. you are so right about these guitars ..thanks
yeah they're the best
I want one of each!
What makes you prefer the S500 over the Comanche? In the Tribute line at least, it seems to be the same guitar and controls, just MFD pickups built a little differently to be noiseless. Am I not understanding something correctly?
Thats a good question. Here's the thing-- I mostly use the Comanche in the studio and the S-500 live. I think my bias skews towards the S-500 because at heart playing live is what I love the most. But both guitars do it for me and I would tour with either of them in a heartbeat.
Tom McNalley what qualities make either guitar more suited to live/studio use in you opinion?
Great video :)
thanks!
Ok, now I really get it after replaying a couple times.. Your boss asked you and the cameraman to make this video. The boss watched you do it. At 11:00 minutes in, he asks you to start the very informative side-by-side. At 12:10 minutes or so, he gets a call from his wife asking him to come home. Seeing how the video was SO GOOD from 11:00 minutes in until 12:10, he leaves. Once he's gone, the camera guy fades to black and shows you the Humboldt County nugs he just got. You say, "we should finish the video first. What if we forget where we are in this process?". He convinces you that it will all be fine. You hit the nugs. HARD. Then you come back, "Ok, where were we?". "You were just about to show them positions 3, 2 and 1". "Ok, roll the camera". ... ... ... "Hey, this whammy thing is like...wow...it's like making moaning sounds...kind of like the ocean...like you're on a boat and it's going up and down....but there's rough seas ahead...and if I rock this whammy back and for like really, really fast and then scream some high notes with my fingers just flying across the frets and just barely even touching the guitar...this whammy bar is THE ROOT OF ALL SOUND." Camera guy agrees, but he's getting bored, so at 13:13 he instructs you to just wrap this video up so he can hit more nug. Tom, at 12:10 or so, it's pretty clear what happened to you. Come on, now. Come clean. Watch the video yourself and tell me that's not what happened. I ain't mad at ya; we all need a little nug break every now and again. I just hope you make another video and keep the boss around until the very end. Still love ya!
I never realized how much the S500 sounds like an ASAT.
I bought my S500 from Sweetwater and couldn't decide if I wanted a tele or strat, as I have had both in the past. I contacted a sales engineer and discussed both. He said you can have both in the same guitar with the S500. By using the multiple pickup options. The S500 was the last guitar Leo Fender personally designed and that Asat tone was what he had in mind by using the push pull/toggle switch for the neck/bridge pickups. I don't know about the Comanche, I never played one, but the Legacy does not switch between bridge and neck.
@@billkoetting5197 I might have to go with a legacy. I like having various tonal options. I already have an ASAT. wouldn’t want a guitar that looks like a Strat but sounds like a telly
@@MatthaeusEbonah Good point. Rock on!
@@MatthaeusEbonah ASAT classic S is great guitar
Hey if I buy one of those will you give a G&L shirt???
That is some pretty crazy vibrato work mister. Anyone want to buy a Frankenstrat? I need me an S500.
i found the comanche to be slightly muffled in this review, the s-500 as well, but not as much. i'm curious how the tone settings were dialed in
I can tell you exactly why. All three guitars were recorded with the exact same amp settings and the comanche for whatever reason pushed the mic just a little harder. In mastering it needed a bit more work than the other two so it didn't clip. I find that when I record with the Comanche it gets a great sound very easily but it does put out a lot more sound than other guitars!
The first one, the Legacy, sounded the best - which is a shame, I wanted the Z coils, of the Comanche, to the to take the cake.
Yeah, the Z coils have that John Mayer type scooped mids tonality. Due to that it's quite an acquired taste.
yo dude...that's stuff you played on the Comanche at 6:36...! Dope! where d'you learn that from?
hahaha thats "Baron Baron" by Les Gypsies de Petion Ville. I used to study with Rony Ambroise and have spent a lot of time in Haiti playing music. I'm guessing by your name that you're Haitian! Mizik Ayisyen pi bon pase tout! Bel bagay,
nice one. thanks
thanks!
@@mrmctom just came here again today, all of a sudden saw my comment. five years ago i bought the "tribute asat deluxe carved top". its stunning, i love it so much. paired with blues junior. now, i want to a order a custom shop new GnL. i got got not clue what to choose from these 3.
i do know that i want it to have a saddle lock. i love that bridge. less holes, more sustain and vibration to the body, i will not use tremolo. i want that Knopler bell sound. but that Comanche sound great... what a great guitars. cannot decide what to choose.
What g & l guitar would you say is the, so to speak, equivalent to the bass, L-2000?
Legacy sounds the best. It needs more options though. Blue burst is old news, black ice is the most beautiful guitar since antigua!
hahaha yeah its elegance is in the simplicity. I love the blue burst but its harder to shoot because it reflects studio lights very easily! many many shots had the cameras and everything in them. But its absolutely beautiful in person and on stage.
I agree :)
I got a Legacy (shoreline gold w/ black pickguard & maple fretboard) because I don't like the ceramic's dynamic character much. My strat needs to sound more surf/blues than metal (that's what the Ibanez RGs and LesPauls are for :)
Great video but more pickup variety would have put it over the top.
The only thing I don't like is the head stock design.
What is the difference between the legacy and its deluxe version? Does it sound different, or is it just more options.
Deluxe replaced the Standard line. Essentially the same
I have a Legacy strat. sunburst
Are the weight of all the models the same. The Comanche was so heavy the one I had I traded.
That’s was likely a tribute. Some of them are very heavy.
Where I play live there a lot of LED lights. Would you recommend the Comanche or is the S-500 pretty quiet as well?
Though the s-500 is a bit quieter than guitars w regular alnico single coils (including the Legacy), the Comanche gets some humbucking effect from the z-shaped layout of the pickup. It’s markedly more quite.
Can anyone comment on the tuning stability of the G&L trem? About the same as Fender American fulcrum, or even better, in league with PRS?
...I made it to 12:00 in the video. Sounds pretty solid, but please comment from experience.
Partly because it has a latex (?) gasket thingy, it’s more stable then a modern two post Fender, IME. The G&L trems are way better I think. When I’ve gotten fenders in the past, I’ve always replaced the trems w Music Mann immediately.
Nice comparison,.... but easy on the tremolo man!
haha you should have seen what I cut
Cool
thanks!
thx for taking time to investigate the whammy, Fender guitars cannot stay in tune for Shit, even the Jeff Beck Strat has a cheap ass bridge. gotta buy a Callaham like he and Dave Gilmour use.
3 different strats that don’t sound like strats. Interesting, how is it any advanced in comparison to what Fender corp. does?
Tom were these all USA models or Tribute models?
Id like to know also
Great demo of all three G&L guitars! For me personally, the Legacy calls out to me simply on account that Hendrix, Trower, Marino, and Freed spoiled me SILLY once my music collection expanded into the classic blues/rock realm (lol). Besides, can't go wrong with the alnicos for that vintage "old school" sound. Can't really afford any of the USA-made models yet, but I heard some nice things about the more budget-friendly Indonesian-made Tribute line so I'll definitely check those out at some point. And yeah, that S-500 would be ideal for a large gig/arena setting:::wink:::wink:::
;-)
Hello .. Good night. would you like to know if possible whether the aperture to accommodate the pickups is unique or depends on the model of the G & L stratocaster? Thanks in advance for your patience and willingness to respond.