Alice In Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell is one of the most respected and influential players to emerge from the grunge movement of the early 1990’s and has maintained a presence in the guitar community long after many of his contemporaries ceased being relevant. Most in our world identify Cantrell with the beat-to-death G&L Rampage he has played for most of his career.
The Rampage was one of early G&L designs and was one of the first production guitars to capitalize on the Van Halen/Superstrat trend of the 80’s. The Rampage was made from 1984 to 1988 but only a few hundred instruments were actually constructed, making it a fairly rare piece. Well, good news, rock fans: G&L has finally knuckled under to market pressure and has made available the new Tribute Rampage Jerry Cantrell Signature model, which is an import, as well as a US-made version.
The G&L Tribute Rampage features a soft maple body just like Cantrell’s personal instrument, a 25.5” scale length, a quarter-sawn hard-rock maple neck with ebony fingerboard (an upgrade from the original) a 13.3/4 radius, and 22 medium profile frets. The hardware is black chrome, which goes nicely with either the black or ivory finishes available, the single Alnico V pickup is custom wound to Cantrell’s specs, and dive-bombers will enjoy the recessed Kahler 4300 X-Trem bridge and Floyd Rose locking nut, which provide all the whammy action one could possibly stand, staying in tune all the while.
All of this adds up to a guitar that can cover any kind of hard rock tone and style. It is crisp, articulate, and well-balanced and is an excellent choice for anyone seeking a stripped-down rock and roll machine that values function over form, although it looks pretty cool, too. AIC fans and all other rockers should make a beeline for their nearest G&L dealer and take a Tribute Rampage for a test drive today, although with an MSRP of only $850.00, it might be hard finding a dealer who can keep these hot rods in stock.
The Kahler flyer tremolo is the most stable tremolo ever invented. Top mounted and uses springs about an inch long. Its a rock anvil. Mine has been on my 1982 Roadstar for 30 years and its only needs to be tuned every hundred hours of playing. The Rampage is a superstrat like a charvel Jackson of the day, but bulletproof. No floyd.