Les Paul DC vs Fallout Tribute

[DoctorZee]

I’m gassing for a short-scale, and I think I’ve narrowed it down to the Gibson Les Paul DC or G&L Fallout Tribute.

I haven’t been able to find the Gibson in any stores, so I doubt I’ll have a chance to try it out. Curious if anyone has played both and can help shine light on any differences in build quality, weight and balance, and neck feel.

I never fancied a Gibson but this one has my eye, and I like the idea of a nitro-finished, American-made instrument at the $999 price point. Or, should I pocket the savings and buy a great G&L Tribute for 35% less?

Edit: Is the Gibson discontinued? Not seeing it in stock anywhere!

 

[sleddogn]

I'm a huge fan of the Gibby Les Paul DC. You will have a hard time finding lots of negative thoughts on this bass. I did own a fallout for 2 days, ended up returning it due to wonky neck that i couldn't get adjusted. But the les pauls are super fun to play, and have a nice tone imo...oh is this the "zee" in your name or the other guy, lol

 

[DoctorZee]

I'm a huge fan of the Gibby Les Paul DC. You will have a hard time finding lots of negative thoughts on this bass. I did own a fallout for 2 days, ended up returning it due to wonky neck that i couldn't get adjusted. But the les pauls are super fun to play, and have a nice tone imo...oh is this the "zee" in your name or the other guy, lolView attachment 4951611

The only thing that has me nervous on the Gibson is the neck specs: I don’t think I’ve ever played an 11” radius. Will that take some getting used to, or is it not a big difference from the 9.5” I’m used to?

 

[sleddogn]

Man, i've honestly owned over 60 basses in my life. I've never known or paid attention to the radius of any of them. I've been aware of there being the usual radius measurements for various necks, but couldn't tell you what a particular neck is just by playing it. I found the gibson to be super easy to get around on though

 

[LowEndLobster]

The Gibson is a VERY nice bass for the price. Earlier ones were stored poorly and suffered from major fret sprout, but that is an easy fix and left you with a killer short scale. Hipshot tuners from the factory. I added a Hipshot Supertone and a Serek pickup to mine and it's simply stellar. The fallout is nice, but the Gibson is a MUCH nicer instrument.

 

[DoctorZee]

The Gibson is a VERY nice bass for the price. Earlier ones were stored poorly and suffered from major fret sprout, but that is an easy fix and left you with a killer short scale. Hipshot tuners from the factory. I added a Hipshot Supertone and a Serek pickup to mine and it's simply stellar. The fallout is nice, but the Gibson is a MUCH nicer instrument.

Thanks, that’s a good perspective to hear! Your reviews are part of what led me to these two choices, so thank you for that!

 

[Roger W]

I’m pretty sure the Gibson is discontinued, so you’ll either have to buy used or from a store that didn’t sell their’s.

 

[DoctorZee]

I’m pretty sure the Gibson is discontinued, so you’ll either have to buy used or from a store that didn’t sell their’s.

Yeah, I just noticed that actually. That’s a bummer.

 

[msb]

The Jr is one gorgeous little bass.

 

[H K]

The DC juniors were all over for a while. It felt like the shops were throing them at you here in europe, and it was pretty much the only availible Gibson bass during the pandemic. Now that it's discontinued it's nowhere to be found.
I wonder if they bulldozed a bunch just to create this sudden scarcity..

 

[littlebun]

The only thing that has me nervous on the Gibson is the neck specs: I don’t think I’ve ever played an 11” radius. Will that take some getting used to, or is it not a big difference from the 9.5” I’m used to?

I have all the different radius necks from 7-18" The 12" radius necks are easy players for me, so the 11 should be, too.

 

[jdjk7]

I’m gassing for a short-scale, and I think I’ve narrowed it down to the Gibson Les Paul DC or G&L Fallout Tribute.

I haven’t been able to find the Gibson in any stores, so I doubt I’ll have a chance to try it out. Curious if anyone has played both and can help shine light on any differences in build quality, weight and balance, and neck feel.

I never fancied a Gibson but this one has my eye, and I like the idea of a nitro-finished, American-made instrument at the $999 price point. Or, should I pocket the savings and buy a great G&L Tribute for 35% less?

Edit: Is the Gibson discontinued? Not seeing it in stock anywhere!

Frankly, I'd get the Fallout. The only reason I don't have one is because I don't care for short scale basses, but otherwise, I played an American Fallout and it was a great-sounding bass. I'd get that instead of a Gibson. (The Tributes are fine instruments too.)

 

[Chrisk-K]

The only thing that has me nervous on the Gibson is the neck specs: I don’t think I’ve ever played an 11” radius. Will that take some getting used to, or is it not a big difference from the 9.5” I’m used to?

In a blind test, you won’t feel the difference.

 

[evs]

The past 10 (or so) years, I've only been playing short scales.
Tried a whole heap and owned quite a few.
(Still have 4).

The Gibson DC is really hard to beat.
It is great in every way.

 

[evs]

The only thing that has me nervous on the Gibson is the neck specs: I don’t think I’ve ever played an 11” radius. Will that take some getting used to, or is it not a big difference from the 9.5” I’m used to?

The neck is really easy to get used too.
It is comfortable, and just feels so good.
Coming from fender type necks, it was an easy transition.

 

[Lowendchamp]

If anyone here is familiar with my rantings I would always recommend the SBMM Stingray Short Scale. I have no more gas for anything less than $2k in the short scale market now. Before I got mine I wanted both the basses you mentioned, but now I don't have a need for one so to want one would put me pretty high up the quality scale to beat mine.
It's just the neck and pickup are both awesome. That's the most important stuff right? Anything more is just a better feel, and a justified purchase should budget allow, but unnecessary.

 

[oddeotek]

I’ve had the Les Paul DC Tribute for a couple of years now and it is one of my favorite basses. Having owned a few Gibson basses over the years (a ‘65 EB-2, A ‘60 DC EB-O, two SG style EBOs, an EB-3, a Les Paul Triumph Recording Bass, a Ripper, a Grabber and a Thunderbird), I can honestly say that the Tribute is the most comfortable and best sounding of all the Gibson basses that I have owned. The tone is reminiscent of a Precision bass so it sits in a mix nicely but it can also bring a growl that belies its diminutive size. my only complaints are that it isn’t the best body style to play sitting down since the body cutaway sitting on your leg shifts the bass too far to your side. I’m not a fan of the pick guard shape and style, especially knowing how cool it would look without it but there is a large routed out area from the pickup to the volume and tone pots and a (better hidden) neck spline under that plastic. Neither of these faults are a deal breaker to me since I wear it with a strap and the comfortable neck and body size are a joy to play. I have a feeling that these basses will become more desired in the coming years since it appears that they have been discontinued.

 

[JimmyM]

I like 9.5 but I like 12” better.

 

[rooster]

Reverb....Has a few.

 

[lbbc]

I played a DC and it was a fine bass, but I own a G&L Fallout Tribute bass and absolutely love it. It sounds great and the playability is awesome....at least for me