Fretless Tribs

[jfh4242]

Hello Paul!

Thank you so much for spending your time here with us G&L knuckle heads! It is so appreciated.

I was wondering if the idea of fretless Tribs was ever discussed at G&L. If so, why were they not done? Is it just a supply and demand thing?

Thanks!

John

[Paul Gagon]

Hi John,

I don't recall any discussions about pulling off fretless basses under the Tribute banner. I think you called it correctly with the supply and demand thing but also, it takes some really good setup chops to properly dial in a fretless. The goal of the Tributes was always to make the most popular G&L models and keep them cost effective. Every one of the Tributes come in from Cort Indonesia and go through a setup procedure in the USA factory. If memory serves me correctly that takes between 20 to 25 minutes. I know the guys on the USA line spend some serious time fine tuning fretless basses. Seeing as time is money, my guess is that it just didn't make sense to try a fretless bass in the Tributes.

Oh, and by they way, I love spending time with you guys. I'm a bit of a knuckle head myself.

Paul

[jfh4242]

Paul,

Thank you so much for your reply, I very much appreciate it! Very kind of you.

I certainly understand your point about fretlesses. Definitely very difficult to deal with in terms of dialing them in. Makes perfect sense. All that being said, if G&L ever deems it possible to make a fretless Trib M2000, I will be all over it. No doubt.

By the way, I own 4 American G&Ls, 3 Tributes. I love them all, but I have a tremendous amount of respect for G&L concerning the Tribute line. These are simply amazing sounding basses, great craftsmanship and everything else, for a dirt cheap basic price. For me, these are the best bang for the buck option in the bass world, bar none. It's a shame that people basically listen with their eyes, otherwise more people would be buying these basses.

I have another question, if it's not too much to ask. I have always been curious about the popularity of the M versus the L series. My feeling is that the Ls still outsell the Ms, but I could be totally wrong about that. Just wondering if you had a point of view? I don't mean about the actual number, just if the Ls are more popular than the Ms in terms of sales, in general.

Thank you to you and G&L for producing these amazing basses.

John

[Ken Baker]

I have another question, if it's not too much to ask. I have always been curious about the popularity of the M versus the L series. My feeling is that the Ls still outsell the Ms, but I could be totally wrong about that. Just wondering if you had a point of view? I don't mean about the actual number, just if the Ls are more popular than the Ms in terms of sales, in general.

I asked.

L. An iconic isn't easily displaced, it seems.

Ken...

[Paul Gagon]

John,

I think you are correct with the L-Series vs the M-Series. The Ls have been more popular, at least as far as I have ever known. However, because I haven't been with the company for the last two years, the sales might be closer than I was thinking. I really do like the M-Series basses, especially the MJ-4. I had a wonderful time working with Ed Friedland while fine tuning the pickups and electronics on that baby.

Thanks,
Paul

[TDR1138]

I was wondering if the idea of fretless Tribs was ever discussed at G&L. If so, why were they not done? Is it just a supply and demand thing?

Dave McLaren recently posted over on talkbass that it was on their radar and they're considering a short special run or something, but they haven't had much requests from dealers for them, so they're not sure what the market would really be for them.

[Paul Gagon]

I was wondering if the idea of fretless Tribs was ever discussed at G&L. If so, why were they not done? Is it just a supply and demand thing?

Dave McLaren recently posted over on talkbass that it was on their radar and they're considering a short special run or something, but they haven't had much requests from dealers for them, so they're not sure what the market would really be for them.

Well......there ya have it. Dave McLaren and Rob Rizzuto are the sales and marketing decision makers so a fretless Tribute would only happen if they felt it would be successful. Thanks TDR1138 for checking in with some additional info. It really is great to have so many people helping out and contributing.

Paul

[bscur]

I'd vote for one.