Lowendtech
Happily trending in my own peculiar direction.
Just picked up. Fender 100T. Gonna be my main amp for a while as I see it. Very happy so far (one week in).
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Until recently, the last 4 years I have gigged a Genz Streamliner 900 with a Genz NEO 212t cab. Back in March I found an old Musicman HD150 in a Pawn shop. After figuring out what it was and checking it out, I took it home for 300.00.
It's not full tubes, it has a solid state front end and a tube power section, it's a hybrid in the opposite direction from my Genz but it really sounds great! So much so that I am saving for a Fender Super Bassman/100T and a Fender Neo 610 cab to go with it. My Genz stuff I'll hold onto, it's lightweight enough for me to move around when I get to be 80 and still have a gig!
And no!, I'm only 52!
Oh, hell no. I'd end up carrying his stuff, too.
Heh, I qualify as a millennial, and my bandmates are in their early 50s. I help with the load-in and load-out slog, but I don't drive. I can make it to rehearsal via Light Rail, but you have to drive me and my stuff around to the gigs
. During longer hauls, i've rented a van for the three of us with no expectation of compensation from the other dudes. We're all pretty casual about stuff like that.
Ampeg B-15R for my main rig. For my lightweight rig I just replaced my PF-500 with a PF-50T, so I am now all tube, all the time. The PF-500 is a good sounding head, but I just could never fully bond with it. MFD pickups into tubes = nice overdrive.
I'm looking at the 100T and the Super Bassman. Any reason you went with the 100T over the other? Just a good deal that came along? What cab are you using with it? I can't figure out if I need the extra power and subsequent headroom or not. My Music Man HD150 is 150 watts but I always run it in the low power setting which is probably right around 100 watts, but it stays pretty clean at that output. I've heard the 100T dirty's up pretty quick. And that's not necessarily bad, kind if what I'm after really, but I do need clean sounds as well at volume.
Weight isn't an issue for me, the maintenance was.
My Warwick Quad has 3 preamp tubes, one power amp tube and a 600 watt MOSFET power section. It sounds just like a tube amp to me. That same low end heft is there. It doesn't overdrive to a roar - it actually stays very clean all across the input gain stages which I prefer - I get the drive I want from pedals.
My Hartke LH500 definitely has tube qualities to the tone. Again it doesn't overdrive but as mentioned that suits me. It maintains the fast response of SS power section. A true hybrid with great tone.
Lowendtech
Happily trending in my own peculiar direction.
I lucked into a great deal locally on a very young 100T. Could not pass it up. It does get a bit dirty at full band volume but in a very good way IMO. I like it and after one rehearsal, got quite a few compliments on it from the rest of the band. My drummer is a hard (but accurate) hitter and it had enough articulate volume to be heard clearly with a lot of punch throughout the mix. ( 2 electric +one acoustic guit)
If funds were unlimited, I might go for the 300, but after tax, it would've been 3x the price I paid. The 25w option and the post power amp DI was icing on the cake for the 100T. If I need more, I'd bring my WT800 or my Monique700.
Cabs are 2x ML112 (Baer), 1x AE210 (Berg) and a Barefaced Two10. Rehearsal last night was with one ML112.
Thanks! The Post power amp di is a nice feature on these that the 300 I don't believe has. I'll probably end up with the 100T most likely. If I can't get the clean I need for a few things I'll trade up for a Super Bassman. At least that's my thoughts at the moment.
I have a mid seventies SVT and a mid seventies V4B. I hate to say it but the SVT hasn't seen the light of day in years. I occasionaly use the V4B but it's still pretty damn heavy. Plus, and this is just my experience, I've noticed that G&L's don't really play nice with my ampeg's. The MFD's are so hot that they seem to drive the front end of the amps crazy. I did have good luck the V4B the last time I used it with an L2500 if I kept the volume on the bass dialed way back to a little over half or so. I know it's sacrilege in a G&L club thread but if you get the chance to try a stingray through an SVT...now that's a different story.
Well there is a ton of output on tap and if you're running wide open, like I do most of the time, you could easily over power pedals or the preamp stage of your amplifier.
Now that Fender has introduced their new Professional Series basses, the now discontinued Fender American Standard Jazz V can periodically pop up for under $1,000. And occasionally, I've stumbled on the still new-ish G&L JB-5 for just a little over $1,000 (usually used of course). Off hand I think it's a no-brainer, the Fender is good but the G&L is great if not awesome. However, I've only tried the American Standard Jazz 5. I've never even held a G&L JB-5.
Anyone one out there A/B test or even own both the G&L JB-5 and the Fender American Standard Jazz V? Pros of either? Cons of either? Is the G&L worth the extra bucks? Does the Fender hold it's own or perhaps worth a pickup upgrade to battle the G&L?
Thanks!
Anyone one out there A/B test or even own both the G&L JB-5 and the Fender American Standard Jazz V? Pros of either? Cons of either? Is the G&L worth the extra bucks? Does the Fender hold it's own or perhaps worth a pickup upgrade to battle the G&L?
Thanks!
I haven't tried G&L's JB-5, but I have the four-string JB and a five-string M-2500, and I used to have a Fender Am. Standard Jazz V (2008). IMO, the main technical difference is the G&L saddle-lock bridge, which is a different design and has narrower string spacing than the Fender. This is a big deal to some players. I prefer the G&L spacing, but some want wider spacing more like a traditional four. Also, the G&L will have Plek-leveled frets, which should provide lower action without buzz, but IME some Fenders will set up similarly.
The Fender has a graphite-reinforced neck, but if you go with a quartersawn neck on the G&L, it could be even more rigid. My Fender's neck wasn't nearly as rigid as the quartersawn neck on my M-2500, but my Fender could have been an outlier, and the M's solid feel could be affected by the six-bolt neck joint too.
The G&L pickups are great, but that's true of recent Fenders as well. The pickups in my Jazz V sounded fantastic. I replaced them to go noiseless -- only to decide the stock pickups were actually the best match for that bass. (The new American Pro has different pickups than my 2008, but they're probably in the same ballpark tone-wise.)
I think G&Ls generally have slightly better construction, and better finishes, but MIA Fenders are very high quality too IMO. Otherwise, the biggest difference is the huge range of options available when ordering a G&L. Body wood, fretboard wood, finish, body and neck binding, fancy tops, fretboard radius...it goes on and on.
The Fender has a graphite-reinforced neck, but if you go with a quartersawn neck on the G&L, it could be even more rigid. My Fender's neck wasn't nearly as rigid as the quartersawn neck on my M-2500, but my Fender could have been an outlier, and the M's solid feel could be affected by the six-bolt neck joint too.
The G&L pickups are great, but that's true of recent Fenders as well. The pickups in my Jazz V sounded fantastic. I replaced them to go noiseless -- only to decide the stock pickups were actually the best match for that bass. (The new American Pro has different pickups than my 2008, but they're probably in the same ballpark tone-wise.)
I think G&Ls generally have slightly better construction, and better finishes, but MIA Fenders are very high quality too IMO. Otherwise, the biggest difference is the huge range of options available when ordering a G&L. Body wood, fretboard wood, finish, body and neck binding, fancy tops, fretboard radius...it goes on and on.
I agree with your assessment of the differences between the G&L and Fender pickups, but I think the G&L pickups are much hotter. If I'm using my SB-2T and my Fender Precision Select on stage, I have to change the EQ and the master/gain settings differently when changing basses. Even if I use my AM J, it is different from the G&L.
This is very true with the MFD pickups (like the SB-2), much hotter than Fender's. Signal level compares to an active bass!
I have a JB-5 (which I love), comparing it to a Fender Geddy Lee Jazz of a friend (also passive), it was about the same signal level.
IMO @Nedmundo gave a good summary of the difference...
Thanks for the info! I'm well aware of the heavy duty bridge on the G&Ls (I played an ASAT bass for years) but it didn't occur to me that the string spacing of the G&L 5s were tighter than Fender 5s. While I'm sure I could adjust, I'd rather not. The occasional sweet deals I see on eBay for slightly used JB-5s are pretty hard to resist (confession - I own an American Standard Jazz V). But it sounds like I'd be trading up for something a little better but probably not worth the fuss and expense for something that's already so similar.
Thanks again!
Agreed, the MFD (ceramic) pickups used for G&L's SB line is definitely hotter than traditional Fender J & P pickups. However the pickups on the G&L JBs are more old school with alnico pickups. If they are hotter than American Standard J pickups, I doubt they are by so much if they're going for a more vintage vibe. Then again, I've never tried any of the alnico equipped G&Ls basses so I can't really say for certain.
Thanks for liking it Joe! Sort of. I designed it and then had it lasercut out of a 2mm thick sheet of black acrylic.
