Up for sale, a 1996 G&L Tribute Custom S-500 in near-mint, 100% original condition and in perfect working order, complete with the original hardshell case. As the third instrument company founded by Leo Fender, G&L's instruments benefit from Leo's decades of experience at Music Man and (of course) Fender. This discontinued model was made in Japan and was exclusive to the Japanese domestic market, notably rare and a higher-tiered Tribute Series model (later rebranded as the Premium series), not to be confused with the myriad Tribute series instruments produced elsewhere.

This exceptionally well-crafted instrument easily rivals USA production, featuring a trio of Fender-designed Magnetic Field Design (MFD) pickups, a Dual Fulcrum vibrato, a gloss Green Sparkle finish with matching headstock, and mirrored pickguard. Tonewoods include an alder body, maple neck, and slab rosewood fingerboard. The trio of MFD pickups have ample sparkle on tap, delivering more midrange heft than most single coil designs. The bridge is spanky, with great snarl and twang, and toggling towards the neck yields a smoother, bell-like quality. Additionally, the independent Bass and Treble EQ knobs enable a broad degree of tonal sculpting precision, and the two-way Expander mini-toggle adds Neck/Bridge pickup pairings when engaged in positions 1 and 5 on the five-way pickup selector switch. This Tribute Custom S-500 weighs 8lbs 7oz, benefitting from a professional setup here at Mike & Mike’s Guitar Bar with 10-46 strings, low action, and accurate intonation.

Neck Specs:

-Wood: Maple
-Shape: Medium C, measuring .845” 1st fret, .975” 12th fret
-Fretboard: Rosewood slab, 22-fret, 9 1/2“ radius
-Frets: Medium jumbo, pristine
-Scale Length: 25 1/2”
-Nut: 1 5/8”
-Tuners: Gotoh
-Serialization: Seven-digit stamp on back of peghead translates to March, 1996 build date

Body Specs:

-Wood: Alder
-Pickups: Magnetic Field Design single coil x3
-Controls: Volume/Treble/Bass, Five-way pickup selector switch, two-way Expander mini-toggle
-Hardware: Dual Fulcrum vibrato, dome-top knurled knobs
-Plastics: Mirrored one-ply plexi pickguard

The gloss Green Sparkle finish has great depth and dimension to the metalflake, with just a couple tiny marks on the body as a whole. The satin finish on the neck profile is flawless.

The original molded hardshell case is included.