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G&L Club Part 5

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#581
finally got my soooo desired JB special collection 2012 model...what a beauty, and the tone....

I am the only italian bassist that own a G&L JB...(I had to buy it unseen unplayed because it is not imported in Italy)

the bass is wonderfully crafted with three defects.

First the pluses:
- weight...lightest bass ever, the swamp ash is feather light
- tonewoods: grain resonance, it's all there
- balance...perfect
- tone, tone, tone etc etc.
- finish, this honey ale near naked finish is truly something special, even if it's maybe due to a new finishing process at G&L, and this is in my opinion the reason because this point shows up in the "minuses" too...
- pickups, very woody sounding, ancient, thanks God
- almost quarter sawn super stable neck. this is the first bass that does not need to be retuned every time I change environment, cold, warm, dry, wet, nothing seems to be able to induce the wood to adapt, almost non-real...
- nice working machine heads
- pots and caps: you can feel the quality, very smooth and even functioning
- neck pocket: unbelievably tight for a jazz bass...so different to the standard Fender production...but I have to admit that my Warwick Thumb is even more tight in this regard, the neck is fitted by "interference"...

Minuses:
- the bridge: good materials but mine was "defective". The saddle width was lower than optimal, so that when properly locked, the strings were forced to allign badly with pickup polepieces, and the G string did not sound, almost dead, it was off side too much. And the plastic pin that locks the saddles together was almost all visible and the screw almost at the extreme inner part the hole...bad, I had to build washers of the right width and place them between the saddles, you can see them if you look carefully...this way all things get solved, and the G string now rocks.
- the bone nut is too high on the E and A, playable, but it's a bit difficult to fret in the first position, one of these days I have to file it a bit
- the lower horn profile has a visible indent, like a fingerprint were the CNC machinery or the employee went too deep, the finish has concentrated around this point so the imperfection is evident, the finish is also uneven and some parts of the ash, usually when grain changes, is un-naturally "accented".
 

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#589
BillyB_from_LZ said:
Check the tightness of the screws securing the neck. I've had weird results on a bolt-on neck basses when the screws are too loose and also when they're too tight.

Is the truss rod adjusted properly?

Are you stringing through the body or just through the bridge?
Click to expand...

truss rod is set right where i like it. strung through the bridge as its top-load only. i was thinking maybe the saddle might have some kind of effect on it so i swapped the E and G saddles and it still sounds the same. never heard the neck screws thing before.
 
#590
It has arrived. Son, I am not dissapoint.

M2Kfront.jpg


M2Khead.jpg


M2Kback.jpg


M2Kbridge.jpg


M2Kheadback.jpg


Great looking kit. Fit and finish are very good. One of the first things I noticed was the bridge not being labeled TRIBUTE like my Trib L2k. It looks identical in every respect, otherwise. And the only difference I can see between them and the bridge on my USA L2K is the USA's 4 inner screws are larger in diameter.

The bass is a bit buzzy, just like my roommate's ASAT Tribute he got in the mail a week ago, so I'm going to let it acclimate in my heated bedrooms before doing any serious playing/audio tests. I will report back.
 
#596
dedpool1052 said:
i'll try that when i get a chance. it's the weirdest thing, it's like the entire range of the E is a deadnote.
Click to expand...

Since you say it is audible even when not plugged in, it is possible that your pickup is set too high- the magnets on these basses are pretty strong, and I have had issues in the past on my G&L L-series basses when setting the pickups to what would otherwise be a "normal" height. Definitely more common on the 2 pickup models where you are getting twice the magnetic force, but I could get the issues on my old L1000 too. Symptoms of this problem are generally a lack of sustain, intonation problems further up the neck (notes will get kinda wavy, and intonation will be extremely difficult to set to a useable point), and sometimes odd hollow harmonic overtones. All of these issues are moreso on the larger strings as there is more magnetic interaction. Try lowering your pickup much farther than seems normal to mostly pull it out of the equation and see if that helps, if it does then you can raise it bit by bit to find the best balance. I even took the polepieces out of one side of my pickups on my L2000 to slightly adjust this effect (also like the way it sounds that way!).

The only other thing I can think is that maybe the groove in the saddle is not wide enough for your particular gauge of E string, so that the contact point at the bridge is inconsistent? If you are using larger gauge strings, you may also want to make sure to softly push down on the string right in front of the saddle to bend the string over the saddle and create a more consistent speaking point. This will especially be an issue if you have the E string saddle set very far back (which isn't all that uncommon in my experience with setting up G&Ls for proper intonation and lowish action), as the angle from the hole the string attaches to at the rear of the bridge to the saddle will be fairly extreme for a thicker string. The opposite is also a slight possiblity- if the saddle is set too far forward, maybe the adjustment screw isn't in full contact with the saddle (unlikely on the E string- I've had to find longer screws to use on higher strings on one of my older G&Ls before though). The pickup height really seems the most likely to me though...
 
#597
Templar said:
Hey BadJazz, how's the weight on that thing?

Looks great, btw.
Click to expand...

It's 8.5 pounds, whereas my Tribby L2K is 10. Very light, but a bit neck-divey by comparison. I'm still getting used to it.

So far I'm split. I like the weight, but it feels kinda cheap in comparison to the L2k. Granted, I've had the L2k for a few years now and have played the ever loving crap out of it. The neck is slimmer, and has a glossy finish, so it plays very well and easy. I think I like the thicker L2K neck better, though. I'm still getting used to the EQ options. A very different animal than the L2Ks, for certain.
 
#599
sunbeast said:
Since you say it is audible even when not plugged in, it is possible that your pickup is set too high- the magnets on these basses are pretty strong, and I have had issues in the past on my G&L L-series basses when setting the pickups to what would otherwise be a "normal" height. Definitely more common on the 2 pickup models where you are getting twice the magnetic force, but I could get the issues on my old L1000 too. Symptoms of this problem are generally a lack of sustain, intonation problems further up the neck (notes will get kinda wavy, and intonation will be extremely difficult to set to a useable point), and sometimes odd hollow harmonic overtones. All of these issues are moreso on the larger strings as there is more magnetic interaction. Try lowering your pickup much farther than seems normal to mostly pull it out of the equation and see if that helps, if it does then you can raise it bit by bit to find the best balance. I even took the polepieces out of one side of my pickups on my L2000 to slightly adjust this effect (also like the way it sounds that way!).
Click to expand...

well, i tried this....and it worked!
turns out this bass likes the pickup buried into the body. it's still plenty loud and the E-string came back to life. thanks to you and everyone else who helped out.
 
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