Picked up a Tribute from a fellow SOTW-er last week and have been going back and forth with my Barone SNY and a modern Link STM (probably a bit too much). I played that modern Link full time for years, but it's a been a while, so, while I could tell this thing was a quality item right away, it took me a couple of practice sessions to really get totally comfortable doing my thing on it.
Once I did, though, I was really impressed at how flexible it is. My modern STM is good (refaced by Eric Drake years ago), but I've always struggled with a bit of tubby-ness in the right hand around the in-the-staff D, Eb, E in particular and especially on my Selmer (and the Yamaha before it). The Tribute is just that little bit more focused all around and, with the slightly higher rollover than my modern STM, has the capacity for that little bit more bite in the sound that really gives fantastic definition all around.
It has a bit more of a sensation of resistance than the Barone (very free-blowing) and the modern Link (moderately free-blowing), but not in an unpleasant way at all. The sound feels very controllable at all dynamic levels and I have had no problem playing as softly as normal.
Compared to the Barone, which I just can't seem to get away from, it's much less edgy and slightly more focused. The Barone is more spread, but with a ton of edge/buzz in the sound (a good thing, IMO). Both have a nice capacity to pick up some of that "nasty" that I really like to get when I push hard, but I think the Tribute holds together cleaner for longer than the Barone, which pretty much starts doing that at mezzoforte. I love it for that, but sometimes that's not what the situation calls for! The modern Link can't hold a candle to either for outright volume or for this ability to push and pick up character, which is the main reason I've moved away from it in recent years.
As far as dark/bright goes, I think it's a fair bit darker than the Barone, though the more focused character of the Tribute definitely means that its tone is more middle of the road than outright dark, at least how I see things. I tend to play Links pretty bright, though, since I spent so long playing rock gigs on one.
Overall, this seems like a really versatile mouthpiece for someone who mostly plays jazz and needs to occasionally hang in a horn section, r&b or rock gig. Like a good Link should and like modern Links really struggle to do. If I were dividing my time more evenly among those things, then I think something with a bit more baffle like the Barone would probably be a better starting point, since pushing a Link hard can be a fair bit of work on a long gig.
If you like Links, you will like this. If you don't, it's probably not for you. I like Links a lot and I think this is a great option.
By the way, the Rico RSS1 inverted ligature (HR soprano size) fits and looks great!