G&L S-500

Plays like a Custom Shop Strat!!!

1993 G & L S-500 Deluxe 3-Bolt

It is in perfect playing condition!

Frets show very little wear and all electronics are working perfectly!

Really not all that bad for a 16 year old guitar!

A superb player that you would not want to ever get rid of once you

played it for a while!!

This one would probably be for a Professional Musician that wants

a quality instrument and don't mind a few scratches!

I took a lot of extra photos of this one to try to show some of the

finish flaws so you would not waste your time checking it out if that bothers you.

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REVIEW:

As a preface to this review, I also own two G&L ASAT's, a '90 ASAT Standard Signature, and a '91 ASAT Classic Commemorative Signature. Both guitars are superb in all ways. Also, I am a professional guitarist, currently semiretired, and I play a wide variety of styles, but prefer blues and blues/rock.

Last fall (2005) I was considering a "strat" style guitar, and had seriously looked at the various Fender models. Having previous experience with G&L's, I decided to purchase an S-500 instead, since I had the option to return it if I was dissatisfied. The S-500 came with a 10 Year Limited Warranty.

I bought a maple neck/fingerboard model with a swamp ash body in blueburst, with a pearloid pickguard and a hard shell case. The scale length is 25.5", and width at the nut is 1 5/8" with a 12" neck radius. The S-500 came with 9-42 gauge strings, which I changed to 10-46, and then did a complete setup for action, intonation, and tremelo (vibrato) adjustments.

I've now played the S-500 for six months, and have absolutely no regrets about my purchase. The playability and feel of the neck is first rate -- as good as any "strat" style guitar I've played. The jumbo frets came perfectly leveled and crowned, the finish is flawless, and the chrome hardware is very heavy duty and works perfectly. The guitar has G&L's patented tremelo, and along with the locking tuning machines, stays precisely in tune, even with heavy tremelo use. It is also a perfectly balanced guitar, although just a bit on the heavy side (10 lbs.)

The pickups are G&L's Magnetic Field Single Coils, and are wired to a 5-position blade type switch, and a mini-toggle which allows the player the option of having all three pickups wired to the output jack, which is a great addition for extra tonal possibilities. The pickups are bright sounding, but not brittle, and have a smooth midrange and a full bottom end, giving them a very well balanced sound. The pickups sound excellent, whether playing clean or with distortion.

The tone controls include volume, treble roll-off, and bass roll-off -- a very versatile combination. The guitar resists feeding back except at extreme high gain and high volume levels. An exceptional guitar in all ways! Again, I am completely satisfied, and incredibly impressed with the G&L S-500.