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I have found the Holy Grail of guitars


BarneyGumbel

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After years of buying and selling various guitars trying to figure out what sounds the best to me, I have finally found my dream guitar. I have owned and sold a Gibson Les Paul SL, Epiphone Dot, MIM strat, Nashville Telecaster, G&L ASAT, Agile Goldtop with p90s, mid 70's telecaster (probably should have kept that one), and various others. I've also tried out countless guitars in stores. So, what did I get? A G&L Comanche. After reading basically every review out there, I took a chance and nabbed one from ebay. I've had it for two months now and each time I play it, I'm more impressed. It sounds so good, and is such a joy to play, that it's torturous to set it down. I love the pickups too, and the amazing versatility of this guitar. With the pickups being the funky z-shaped G&L pickups, I'll never be tempted to swap out the pickups, which I've had only mediocre success with on other guitars.

 

So, it's kind of a weird feeling, being essentially done with my quest for the ultimate guitar, because I enjoy reading reviews and trying out guitars and contemplating buying them. At this point though, I can't imagine ever getting rid of the Comanche.

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Until Barney posts his pic, here is my new addition:

 

Comanche.jpg

 

Everything he said, except for some inexplicable reason, mine has sharp fret edges. Nothing a simple filing won't cure, but really inexcusable on an otherwise perfect guitar.

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So, it's kind of a weird feeling, being essentially done with my quest for the ultimate guitar, because I enjoy reading reviews and trying out guitars and contemplating buying them. At this point though, I can't imagine ever getting rid of the Comanche.

 

 

Hehe, I've found the "Holy Grail" quite a few times now;)

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I love G&L Guitars...I have two, a Legacy, and a Legacy Special.

 

I have played a Comanche, and imagine that there are great sounds in there, but it is a completely different beast. Don't expect to pick it up in the store and say "aaaah"...you have to work at getting the sounds you hear in your head.

 

I'm glad that you posted after 2 months of playing it. enjoy the axe!

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Mine looks exactly like zuzuman's. I haven't tried a Legacy, but would like to. The Comanche is indeed its own beast. If you play it wanting it to sound like the "ultimate strat" or "tele on steroids", you'll probably be disappointed. It has its own completely unique character. I finally realized that I've never been 100% happy with any strat or tele, so looking beyond those was the answer for me.

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i have a legacy a friend of mine has a comanche, i told him to get it and hes pretty happy with it, ive played it a few times and i love it, great sound , for me soundwise it doesnt differ that much from my legacy but i prefer my legacy's neck as his also has sharp fret edges, it has a maple board too and like rosewood more, anybody thats ever tried my legacy cant say eveough about the neck on it

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i have a legacy a friend of mine has a comanche, i told him to get it and hes pretty happy with it, ive played it a few times and i love it, great sound , for me soundwise it doesnt differ that much from my legacy but i prefer my legacy's neck as his also has sharp fret edges, it has a maple board too and like rosewood more, anybody thats ever tried my legacy cant say eveough about the neck on it

 

 

yeah, I have a legacy too, with a rosewood fretboard. And even though I love the sound and VARIETY of sounds from the Comanche more, I must admit that the neck on the legacy is better, even though I generally prefer maple boards. I have even thought about switching the necks, but I don't think this Comanche would look good with a rosewood board. I might try it though...

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long time viewer (years...), first time poster here; i saw the G&L love and wanted to get in on it.

 

i have a G&L legacy that i bought last summer (august 6th--it was a special day, indeed). it was one of the only guitars in the shop that really stood out--something about the finish maybe. everyone who picked this one up agreed that it was the best guitars in there; people were amazed it hadn't already sold. so i came around, played SRV's "lenny" on it, and just loved the rich warmth and took it home.

 

the gun-oil neck finish is so awesome and vintage looking. that commanche in in the pic above has it! so nice... i think it helps make the neck so freakin' FAST. and the necks on these G&Ls are flawless; they hardly need any relief because the frets are so even. excellent action at all frets, man....

 

so enough of that. G&L rocks! i know i'm happy with the Legacy. i'd still love to check out a commanche for the z pups and also an S-500 for the crazy pup selector! glad to be a member here now.

 

peace

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How does the Comance differ from the Legacy, soundwise?

 

I think the difference is pretty noticeable. I picked up a Comanche out of curiosity when I was getting my Legacy. My Legacy reminds me alot soundwise of the Eric Johnson strat. It has a lot of detail in the sound, with a very clean tone and fairly low output. It's more polite sounding rather than raw and rocking. Not that it can't rock, it's just not a gritty sounding guitar. Almost hi-fi. The Z-Coil pickups on the comanche (because other than electronics, they're almost the same guitar) have more output and bigger low end. They don't as much of the bell-like tone or as sweet of a top end. More like a cross between a single and a bucker. The Comanche is the more versatile guitar for sure, but it doesn't provide those sweet vintage-esque Strat sounds like the Legacy does.

 

Ive' heard more complaints about sharp fret ends on the G&Ls with maple boards. Mine's a maple board (with gun oil tint :love:) but it doesn't have that problem. Also, you can't say a Comanche neck is necessarily going to be better or worse than a Legacy neck because G&Ls neck shaping is done by hand and each individual guitar varies a bit.

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The Comanche does not sound like a strat; that's for sure. I think with the Z pickups, the versatile switching, and the PTB tone system, the Comanche can cover a lot of territory. Ironically, the one thing it can't really do well is a vintage strat sound, in spite of the fact that it looks and feels like a strat...

 

I will let my Fender Deluxe American handle strat duties... I have Van Zandt Vintage Plus pickups in there, and they are just about the best strat pickups I have heard.

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Until Barney posts his pic, here is my new addition:


Comanche.jpg

Everything he said, except for some inexplicable reason, mine has sharp fret edges. Nothing a simple filing won't cure, but really inexcusable on an otherwise perfect guitar.

 

oooooh that's a real looker, nice score

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