Sorry about your bass, maybe a luthier could glue it to prevent the crack from getting worse. It looks fixable to me
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Sorry about your bass, maybe a luthier could glue it to prevent the crack from getting worse. It looks fixable to me
Having a dilemma with my LB-100. I've had it for about 10 years, and the only complaint I have is that I'm lukewarm on the color. But it's fallen down the list of basses that are getting my attention.
I really want a nicer fretless, so part of me is thinking of selling/trading for a fretless.
Part of me wants to try rounds on it.
And when I pull it out, part of me thinks I'm an idiot for even thinking of getting rid of it or changing the strings.
You know what you have to do....buy the nicer fretless....keep the LB-100. It's the only safe way.
Now I'm curious...what color is the lukewarm one?
That's flat out gorgeous!Well this was a little different. Got this minty Tribute LB-100 the other day, plugged in and got a loud ground buzz. Figured maybe the bridge ground wire need some attention. But no, all grounds showing continuity on the meter. Instead I found a weird wiring job that must have been done at the factory, extra wires going to unusual places that didn't seem to make sense. It allowed the bass to be played but not without a constant loud hum.
We're talking a P bass here, simple as it gets. Solution...gutted all the wiring, tossed the pots and jack (I should have taken a pic first). Installed new CTS stuff with standard P bass wiring. All quiet on the western front now, not even gonna bother shielding it. Bass sounds nice, plays nice, and I like how it looks.
I'll knock down the fretboard edges and install some Hipshot Ultralites. Interestingly the stock Tribute tuners operate smoother than the USA Schallers (at least on all mine), and are tension adjustable too. But...the tapered posts kinda suck, they draw the string leads to the center of the posts, not the bottom where they belong....piss poor break angle on the 3rd string especially, virtually unavoidable. That's my only niggle. Emerald Blue is maybe my fave G&L finish ever.
Oh, and it weighs in a bit under 9 pounds. As I understand it, these tributes can run pretty heavy, so yay.
Thanks. Gonna just see if a return is possible. Heard so much about the G&L quality control but I'm very disappointed by this and a couple of other issues. One, I had to shim the neck to get the action low enough to be playable for me. This was after the factory shim that g&l already had in there. Two, the tuner for the D string is very sloppy. I'll probably have to buy a new one.
Having a dilemma with my LB-100. I've had it for about 10 years, and the only complaint I have is that I'm lukewarm on the color. But it's fallen down the list of basses that are getting my attention.
I really want a nicer fretless, so part of me is thinking of selling/trading for a fretless.
Part of me wants to try rounds on it.
And when I pull it out, part of me thinks I'm an idiot for even thinking of getting rid of it or changing the strings.
If you like how it plays and you use it, but hate the colour, you could refinish it.
Belair green
It's crossed my mind. I actually got some quotes before the inflation went rampant. It was more than I wanted to spend then, can't imagine what it is now. And I've done a couple myself before, not really a project I want to repeat. I don't hate the color. Just don't love it either.
Then just keep the bass and restring it so see if you prefer other strings (that's a cheap way to experiment) and have fun. I have one of the 2000s era gold L2ks. I was never hot on the colour but it's 8.6# and plays and sounds great. And you know what? It turns out other people really like the colour. Good enough for me, since they're looking at it more than I am during a gig (or a practice, for that matter). And now I kind of like it too.
If you want a fretless, get a fretless too.
OTOH, if it lives in its case and you never play it, sell it so someone else can enjoy it. I have too much stuff but try to not keep instruments that I won't actually play.
If you want a fretless, get a fretless too.
OTOH, if it lives in its case and you never play it, sell it so someone else can enjoy it. I have too much stuff but try to not keep instruments that I won't actually play.
Looks like you live in SoCal and if so, I would definitely reach out to Pat Wilkins. I have one of his basses and he is well known for his finishes and refinishing work. The P/J I have of his is unquestionably one of my favorites and he's a terrific person to boot. Easy to talk to and always willing to help out. I'm sure it would give your LB-100 a new lease on life with a fresh coat of something.
I do get a lot of compliments on the look of the bass, so there is that.
Unfortunately, adding a fretless without sacrificing something just isn't in the cards right now.
It's really just taken a back seat to my other basses - my L-1000 is just the perfect (for me) flats bass, my SB-2 is doing my rounds duties, my L-2000 is a lifer, and I'm having too much fun playing my Gibson SG and LP DC basses.
I did dig out some barely used XL rounds that I might throw on later just to mix things up and confuse the senses a little.
Sweetwater has offered to replace the bass, but I'm honestly kinda scared to take delivery of another one.
I bought a used bass a few years ago that had some cracks at the end of the fretboard. The seller was up front about that and offered a good price on it. When I got it, I stabilized the cracks by grinding up pencil lead into a fine powder and pushing it as far into the cracks as I could using round toothpicks so I didn't scratch the fretboard. When I'd jammed as much of that powder in as I could, I wiped it down and ran some painters tape close to the cracks alongside them. Then I carefully put a few drops of thin, high-quality super glue along the cracks, wiped it quickly one time with a paper towel to remove excess, and removed the tape. (I used Zap, which I used to use when I was building radio-controlled model airplanes.) This penetrates that powder, making it as solid as a rock and gluing it to the inside of the cracks. This was about 4 years ago, and the cracks have not grown at all to this day. And I live in the desert, where the humidity all summer long is in the single digits. This does not make the cracks invisible, but it does keep them from spreading.
Having explained all that, I'd take the new bass from Sweetwater. It's a lot less trouble, and you shouldn't have to do that kind of work on a new bass. It seems like your Sweetwater rep would see to it that the new one is in perfect condition considering the first one you got.
Not sure if I posted this, but Sweetwater looked at the original photos of the bass and it turns out they sent it to me like this. And it means that G&L probably sent it to me like this. I do appreciate Sweetwater making this right but I'm not sure I want another G&L if this is the quality you get from them for $2100, and not sure I really want trust Sweetwater inspection either. So I might just ask for my money back and I'll buy local. Its a pain to go find a box and do all that stuff and then wait for 2 weeks because of something that should have never happened.
I'm confused. You are saying you bought it from Sweetwater but it shipped from G&L?
It is a little confusing. I think it might've just been a typo on your part, and that you meant to say that G&L shipped it to Sweetwater that way, not directly to you. If Sweetwater is offering to send you a new bass, take it. G&L's QC has come under fire for a while now, and I personally have had a problem with Sweetwater's 55 point inspection (which they made right), but I almost 100% guarantee that the next one you get from Sweetwater will have been gone over with a fine tooth comb. In fact, I'd demand it from them. Tell your Sweetwater rep that if the next one you get has issues, you'll want a refund and you won't be buying anything from them again. G&L dropped the ball on their QC. It happens, but probably not as often as this forum makes it seem. But Sweetwater promises total satisfaction with their 55 point inspection. Take advantage of that. Make them stand behind their promise. G&L basses are great...I have five of them. Get a good one and you won't be sorry.
It may be that G&L shipped it to Sweetwater that way. Or, it could have developed in transit to SW, or in storage. It looks like it spread maybe since he received it in his NBD thread: NBD - G&L Content
No I'm saying it might have left G&L with the crack on its way to sweetwater and sweetwater didn't catch it before it shipped to me.
I see. It might be a G&L QC issue or it might not - either way, I would put the responsibility of you receiving it that way a 100% on Sweetwater. Somebody was sloppy / in a hurry.
we need pics! belair green is one of my favorite G&L colors
