The second gen SB-1 originally came with a Schaller split coil in 85, no? MFD starting in 86?
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The second gen SB-1 originally came with a Schaller split coil in 85, no? MFD starting in 86?
Niiice! I really love the honeyburst transparent finishes!
I would have guessed that that was Old School Tobacco rather than Honey, going from the depth of color around the upper horn?
Here's a Honeyburst (on Swamp Ash):
I should have just looked up on the listing on the G&L site: "Old School Tobacco over Okoume, Caribbean Rosewood"
I think mine is a tobacco sunburst. But, to your point, I really like the old school vibe.
John
I was browsing through a search for Honeybursts — and thinking how good Honeyburst + pearloid pg works — when I came across this 
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Honeyburst, spalted alder, parchment, chechen
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Honeyburst, spalted alder, parchment, chechen
This is the M-2500 I bought from The Bass Place, Peoria (AZ) back in 2012.
The description says: "Premier Tobacco Sunburst finish".
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That reminded me that I've admired a burst SB-2 before — going back to find it, turns out that was Spalted Alder, too, with two-tone sunburst
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In both cases, I think the spalted alder is coloring the burst more than is usual.
This second one is reminding me of the burr walnut piano my mum had when I was growing up. Yummmmm.
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In both cases, I think the spalted alder is coloring the burst more than is usual.
This second one is reminding me of the burr walnut piano my mum had when I was growing up. Yummmmm.
Trying to hold the image of tobacco burst, two tone sunburst, old school tobacco burst, and honeyburst in my head simultaneously is making me sleepy.
I know that Old School Tobacco is basically my favourite. The LB-100 that I bought and returned last year was a very pretty OSTburst Fullerton Deluxe with a good piece of tort.
And its neck had a much fuller feeling in my hand than my two BTOs. I sometimes wonder if, for balance reasons, Empress bodies get paired with necks that have come out at the skinny end of G&L's broad tolerances for neck depth. (Have you ever noticed that, @RocketMusic?)
I know that Old School Tobacco is basically my favourite. The LB-100 that I bought and returned last year was a very pretty OSTburst Fullerton Deluxe with a good piece of tort.
And its neck had a much fuller feeling in my hand than my two BTOs. I sometimes wonder if, for balance reasons, Empress bodies get paired with necks that have come out at the skinny end of G&L's broad tolerances for neck depth. (Have you ever noticed that, @RocketMusic?)
It must be something like that. I'm always amazed when they make a 6.8 or 6.9 lb bass balance, but I've seen them do it quite a few times.
Have a JB5 empress. The neck is rather thin, it twisted n the truss rod snapped after putting on flats. Truss rod was replaced and along with it an unlined ebony board.
My Belair Green L1k, which I'm sure everyone's sick of seeing posted here, 
is empress.
The weight is just a hair under 7 pounds. It has a fairly chunky neck on it 1.58 nut 12" radius.
I've never noticed any neck dive, and I tend to wear my basses above my beltline at about a 45 degree angle.
This pic is of an LB100 I traded for my L1k, but is representative of how I wear my FSO's.
is empress.The weight is just a hair under 7 pounds. It has a fairly chunky neck on it 1.58 nut 12" radius.
I've never noticed any neck dive, and I tend to wear my basses above my beltline at about a 45 degree angle.
This pic is of an LB100 I traded for my L1k, but is representative of how I wear my FSO's.
Does anyone know the dimensions of the L-series pickups? I am thinking about getting the Stewmac humbucker pickup router and wondering if its the same size, or close enough.
I think that they were essentially the same as the bridge, perhaps with more winds but not certain
Teaser photo
Should be in my hands on Wednesday
Should be in my hands on Wednesday
I ask because, when I was thinking of adding an SB-2 single coil MFD bridge pickup as a neck (or middle) pickup on a Kiloton, I was advised that it would be too weak to work. That led me to believe that the original SB-2, which had a pair of single coil MFDs, was either a very weak bass or the pickups were different back in those days. I never did go ahead with that mod. I have a Kiloton (though I was going to buy a Tribute for this mod) and an L2500. While the MFD humbuckers on those are strong pickups, I actually don't find them overpowering. In fact, I have at least one other non G&L bass with a stronger pickup.
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I'm assuming you're speaking of the 4-string version? Unfortunately, my Kiloton isn't close at hand, so I can't measure it. I went on the G&L website and to the store, where I was hoping they might have a diagram with dimensions that I could share, but they don't. Most after market pickup companies offer those diagrams, but G&L is an instrument company that happens to sell their pickups. I did find something there that might excite some players: They are now offering that 4-string humbucker pickup for sale with a white cover. I hadn't seen that offered there before, though I was able to purchase just a white cover from them a few years ago.
I never measured the mfd singles but Ive owned two of the first gen SB2 and a handful of the second gen pj versions. The bridge pickups are different. Each single from the first gen worked well solo and it was a pretty potent bass overall. The single from the pj seems weaker and doesn't solo well.
I dont know how well a new mfd single would pair with a kilo but it might look odd with the single an inch or so wider.
