G&L Club Part 7

[JobuDRK79]

View attachment 5245643 View attachment 5245644 Hello all! I'm still new to TB, and this is my new (about 2weeks old) ASAT bass in the really cool Andromeda finish.
I really debated with myself about this purchase. I have a Stingray Special w a single pickup that I love. I wanted a double pickup bass and my debate centered around another Stingray or an ASAT. I tried a used G&L at a local store and even though I hadn't tried a Ray I decided I liked it enough to go with an Andromeda I found online.
Anyway, I enjoy it. Not 100% sure I made the "right" choice, but I don't think I made the "wrong" choice either!
If you stuck with me this long, thanks. I'm thinking of putting a set of flat wound strings on this. Why? It's just something I'd like to try. I had a set years ago on an Epiphone Rivoli. Can anyone make any suggestions to me on a good brand to try? I have no recollection of what I used before, but it was definitely was an uneducated purchase.
Thanks in advance!

Hey buddy! , great looking bass! The andromeda is the bomb
I never got along with tele shape basses personally, due to the balance of them but it is damn sexy.
Ok, flats, all over it mate, I am super into my flats:

Vinatge sound: Can't go wrong with Labella Deep talking flats. Try the 105-45 other wise they are super high tension

Modern sound: Ernie ball Cobalt flats. They are almost a round wound kinda modern sound but with the feel of flats

Somewhere in the middle but also completely in their own catergory:
Thomastik Infeld flats. They are super low tension and have a really specific mid range punch but they just sit so well in a mix and once you get used to the lower tension are so much fun to play in my humble opinion.

hope that helps. Most of my basses string with flats are Cobalt or TI

good luck mate

 

[Smartsoul72]

Hey buddy! , great looking bass! The andromeda is the bomb
I never got along with tele shape basses personally, due to the balance of them but it is damn sexy.
Ok, flats, all over it mate, I am super into my flats:

Vinatge sound: Can't go wrong with Labella Deep talking flats. Try the 105-45 other wise they are super high tension

Modern sound: Ernie ball Cobalt flats. They are almost a round wound kinda modern sound but with the feel of flats

Somewhere in the middle but also completely in their own catergory:
Thomastik Infeld flats. They are super low tension and have a really specific mid range punch but they just sit so well in a mix and once you get used to the lower tension are so much fun to play in my humble opinion.

hope that helps. Most of my basses string with flats are Cobalt or TI

good luck mate

Thank you!

 

[deepestend]

Came across this photo of myself from 2003 playing my long gone L-2000, my first real bass. Loved it, but the ski jump neck and weight got to be too much and sold it. Would love to have another L2K sometime.

 

[MrB64]

View attachment 5246476

Came across this photo of myself from 2003 playing my long gone L-2000, my first real bass. Loved it, but the ski jump neck and weight got to be too much and sold it. Would love to have another L2K sometime.

Was 2003 the year the bass was made? I'm wondering if that was before the graphite stiffening rods were put in G&L necks and if they would have prevented the ski jump in yours.

 

[deepestend]

Was 2003 the year the bass was made? I'm wondering if that was before the graphite stiffening rods were put in G&L necks and if they would have prevented the ski jump in yours.

No... it was old when I got it around 2001... maybe a 90's one?

 

[Btbp]

I could loan you some scratch remover that is probably as old as that bass is.

View attachment 5245448


Picked these up for a couple bucks at a store closing sale for a small mom and pop guitar shop. Definitely never going to use them and they stay in a drawer with some other random G&L stuff that I have. Still not entirely sure why I bought them.

Thanks. I'm not looking for any scratch remover, per my first post on this just to clean up gunk as I just got this at a guitar show and the whole thing - body, neck and fretboard, is really gunked up with other people's detritus.

I have the fretboard treatment but not the polish, after seeing the warnings about some polishes not suitable for nitro finishes, and per G&L recommendation, I'm going with the MusicNomad stuff.

Still waiting to see responses on how to clean up the pole pieces and their seatings....

 

[Holdsg]

I used cymbal cleaner to eliminate pole rust on a Stingray. Have to be careful with that stuff, but it got the job done.

 

[T-34]

Thanks. I'm not looking for any scratch remover, per my first post on this just to clean up gunk as I just got this at a guitar show and the whole thing - body, neck and fretboard, is really gunked up with other people's detritus.

I have the fretboard treatment but not the polish, after seeing the warnings about some polishes not suitable for nitro finishes, and per G&L recommendation, I'm going with the MusicNomad stuff.

Still waiting to see responses on how to clean up the pole pieces and their seatings....

no Nitro was used by G&L, no?

 

[ahbass2500]

no Nitro was used by G&L, no?

I could not find the post, but recall seeing on the guitarsbyleo forum that nitro was used prior to 1985.

 

[TomB]

I could not find the post, but recall seeing on the guitarsbyleo forum that nitro was used prior to 1985.

I recall seeing that statement as well and I thought it was in this thread. I was surprised, as I had always thought my 1980 L1000 was poly finished. Is there any way to tell for sure?

 

[ahbass2500]

I recall seeing that statement as well and I thought it was in this thread. I was surprised, as I had always thought my 1980 L1000 was poly finished. Is there any way to tell for sure?

Found the thread. The G&L Discussion Page - View topic - Finish processes, how we did it then.

It says the very first G&Ls were poly then they switched to nitro early on. Switched back in 1985. Thread mentions you can test with nitro thinner, but not sure I would recommend that test. I suppose it could be fine if you do it inside a control cavity or neck pocket.

 

[TomB]

Found the thread. The G&L Discussion Page - View topic - Finish processes, how we did it then.

It says the very first G&Ls were poly then they switched to nitro early on. Switched back in 1985. Thread mentions you can test with nitro thinner, but not sure I would recommend that test. I suppose it could be fine if you do it inside a control cavity or neck pocket.

Given that mine was among the first thousand basses made, this would explain my belief it was poly. From the beginning mine had minor surface imperfections on the back, looking as if it had been put into the case before the poly fully cured. Maybe they struggled with it, then made the change to nitro ??

 

[ahbass2500]

Given that mine was among the first thousand basses made, this would explain my belief it was poly. From the beginning mine had minor surface imperfections on the back, looking as if it had been put into the case before the poly fully cured. Maybe they struggled with it, then made the change to nitro ??

According to the thread they did struggle. End of first post talks about finish checking issues were common on the early Poly instruments.

 

[TomB]

According to the thread they did struggle. End of first post talks about finish checking issues were common on the early Poly instruments.

So I read the post you linked. Here's an excerpt:

"The base coats until around 1985 were 100% nitro cellulose lacquer. There were no polyester or polyurethane base coats prior to that time. After four coats were applied and dry, they had to be smooth sanded before the color ( or in the case of natural ) and top coats could be applied. I will continue this process breakdown throughout the day. I hope you will stay tuned.
Fred
Footnote: When I say no polys were used prior to 1985 I mean at G&L. The very first CLF instruments did have polyester base coats which were discontinued because of check cracking."

I guess I'll return to being confused .

 

[deepestend]

So I read the post you linked. Here's an excerpt:

"The base coats until around 1985 were 100% nitro cellulose lacquer. There were no polyester or polyurethane base coats prior to that time. After four coats were applied and dry, they had to be smooth sanded before the color ( or in the case of natural ) and top coats could be applied. I will continue this process breakdown throughout the day. I hope you will stay tuned.
Fred
Footnote: When I say no polys were used prior to 1985 I mean at G&L. The very first CLF instruments did have polyester base coats which were discontinued because of check cracking."

I guess I'll return to being confused .

My '84 is likely nitro. Accidentally got some thinner on it and it started making the finish soft consistent with nitro.

 

[Chrome Dome]

Decided to stay with Blue Burst finish. After taking care of issue with the Blue Burst Asat return. Ran across the 90's Blue Burst L2000 basically same bass as far as controls and setup. Body contours little more comfortable. Not bad to be 27 years old,think it is 1996. Has the three bolt neck with black neck plate and micro tilt. Neck seems to be okay,at least truss rod works,and moves freely. Just wish it had the maple body binding like the Asat had.

 

[MrB64]

I got some of these for my L2K, I like them: Mini Toggle Switch Cap Set

 

[YarMan]

Question for this group, and another thing like the polish question (still unanswered https://www.talkbass.com/threads/g-l-club-part-7.1035742/page-1455#post-27920127) a bass buddy I highly respect is also against doing -

what have any of you done to get the rust or corrosion off your pole pieces and their seatings? The bridge p/u is fine but the neck p/u is messing with my OCD. I've been warned against using steel wool, which I think is good advice:
View attachment 5242181

Question for this group, and another thing like the polish question (still unanswered https://www.talkbass.com/threads/g-l-club-part-7.1035742/page-1455#post-27920127) a bass buddy I highly respect is also against doing -

what have any of you done to get the rust or corrosion off your pole pieces and their seatings? The bridge p/u is fine but the neck p/u is messing with my OCD. I've been warned against using steel wool, which I think is good advice:
View attachment 5242181

I used steel wool on my (very) old bass guitar that was left in my basement...
BTW, I always keep those Silica Gel bags inside the bass case. It's amazing because it absorbs moisture.

 

[jglunt]

NBD, kinda sorta. Below is my '07 SB-2 with its '21 neck. I've always loved the fact that this bass was unconventional, having no tone control, but I disliked the fact that adjusting the volume changed the tone, which could only be restored by further adjustment of the volume controls, which changed the tone, which could only be restored by further adjustment of the volume controls...you get the picture. (Truthfully, I find any bass with two volume controls to be uncomfortable to adjust.)

I've been through several wiring conversions with the SB-2, but I always thought there was more in there than I was able to get out of it. Last week just for kicks, I decided to wire the two pickups in series to a single volume pot, and BOOM (to quote the late, great John Madden), there was the sound. It sounded very much like my Tribute L2500 in series. In the end, I wired the pickups to a 250k volume pot with a push/pull switch to flip between series and parallel. And since the old black pickguard had cracked and crumbled around a few of the screw holes, I had Pickguard Planet (no affiliation) make me a new brown-tort PG with a hole for only a single pot.

I play through a simple Ampeg SCR-DI (no affiliation), an analog preamp with volume, treble, mid, and bass controls, plus a scrambler distortion unit. From there I go into the sound board--no amp, only in-ear monitors and an iPad to control my personal monitor mix. The sound system employs three subs, so I have lots of low end, and I have tone adjustments available as needed at my feet with the Ampeg SCR-DI. I'm diggin' it.

 

[MrB64]

NBD, kinda sorta. Below is my '07 SB-2 with its '21 neck. I've always loved the fact that this bass was unconventional, having no tone control, but I disliked the fact that adjusting the volume changed the tone, which could only be restored by further adjustment of the volume controls, which changed the tone, which could only be restored by further adjustment of the volume controls...you get the picture. (Truthfully, I find any bass with two volume controls to be uncomfortable to adjust.)

I've been through several wiring conversions with the SB-2, but I always thought there was more in there than I was able to get out of it. Last week just for kicks, I decided to wire the two pickups in series to a single volume pot, and BOOM (to quote the late, great John Madden), there was the sound. It sounded very much like my Tribute L2500 in series. In the end, I wired the pickups to a 250k volume pot with a push/pull switch to flip between series and parallel. And since the old black pickguard had cracked and crumbled around a few of the screw holes, I had Pickguard Planet (no affiliation) make me a new brown-tort PG with a hole for only a single pot.

I play through a simple Ampeg SCR-DI (no affiliation), an analog preamp with volume, treble, mid, and bass controls, plus a scrambler distortion unit. From there I go into the sound board--no amp, only in-ear monitors and an iPad to control my personal monitor mix. The sound system employs three subs, so I have lots of low end, and I have tone adjustments available as needed at my feet with the Ampeg SCR-DI. I'm diggin' it.
View attachment 5250370
View attachment 5250371

You are, indeed, a mad scientist. Congratulations, and well done!