G&L Club Part 7

[mrjim123]

Question for the SB-2 people - are your pole pieces roughly flush with the pickup cover? I bought a used one that had the poles raised way up under the D and G strings, and those strings sounded weird. I adjusted them and it sounds better, but I was just curious.

This is probably a repost for a bunch of yous, but I think that's ok for a NBD.
View attachment 3176175

The pole pieces are virtually flush with both pickup cover on my SB-2.

 

[Chef]

If the fret wear isn't that bad and it's fully functional, that's not without its appeal

Your next vintage G&L. Not quite certain why "Hurricane Katrina Sucked" would be carved into the body

G&L L-2000 BASS USA 1981 SERIES E ROUGH | eBay

 

[metron]

This SB-2 has outrageous mids. I love it! The J neck feels good although it is a thick profile front to back. Probably similar to 70s J bass necks. I'm going to keep it stock for now, though I may just get the parts for a stacked tone pot. I suspect I will add one sooner than later.

So it appears I got one of the dreaded buried truss rod nuts. It's sort of pointed downward (from the fretboard) into the neck wood at an angle such that I can't get the key in it. I guess the good news is it's not likely stripped since I don't think it's ever been used/adjusted.

Is there a fix for this that doesn't include boring out the wood around the nut?

 

[Kriegs]

This SB-2 has outrageous mids. I love it! The J neck feels good although it is a thick profile front to back. Probably similar to 70s J bass necks. I'm going to keep it stock for now, though I may just get the parts for a stacked tone pot. I suspect I will add one sooner than later.

So it appears I got one of the dreaded buried truss rod nuts. It's sort of pointed downward (from the fretboard) into the neck wood at an angle such that I can't get the key in it. I guess the good news is it's not likely stripped since I don't think it's ever been used/adjusted.

Is there a fix for this that doesn't include boring out the wood around the nut?

I'm right there with you on the need for a stacked tone pot

My SB-2's TR is at a really difficult angle too! I figured it was just a fluke, I didn't realize it was an epidemic

 

[Mktrat]

This SB-2 has outrageous mids. I love it! The J neck feels good although it is a thick profile front to back. Probably similar to 70s J bass necks. I'm going to keep it stock for now, though I may just get the parts for a stacked tone pot. I suspect I will add one sooner than later.

So it appears I got one of the dreaded buried truss rod nuts. It's sort of pointed downward (from the fretboard) into the neck wood at an angle such that I can't get the key in it. I guess the good news is it's not likely stripped since I don't think it's ever been used/adjusted.

Is there a fix for this that doesn't include boring out the wood around the nut?

Is it a tribby truss nut problem, USA truss nut, or both?
I'm thinking about adding a SB-2 at the beginning of next year. Want to try and avoid any known issues.

 

[Kriegs]

Is it a tribby truss nut problem, USA truss nut, or both?
I'm thinking about adding a SB-2 at the beginning of next year. Want to try and avoid any known issues.

For research purposes, my SB-2 is a Tribute

 

[Mktrat]

For research purposes, my SB-2 is a Tribute

Purely for research purposes of course. Thanks Kriegs.

 

[metron]

I'm right there with you on the need for a stacked tone pot

My SB-2's TR is at a really difficult angle too! I figured it was just a fluke, I didn't realize it was an epidemic

I get the whole single coil for tone thing. I guess. Sort of. It's a really nice bass as-is, but the benefit a tone control would add seems pretty obvious. Stack pot!

Not sure about an epidemic with the truss rod access, but I read a handful of stories of people getting them new with tough or impossible to access truss nuts, so it's not an anomaly. The neck doesn't really need adjustment at the moment so I'm good for now. The design of the channel, or whatever causes this feature, is not super great.

 

[metron]

Is it a tribby truss nut problem, USA truss nut, or both?
I'm thinking about adding a SB-2 at the beginning of next year. Want to try and avoid any known issues.

I have a USA. Based on the 6 bolt neck and adjustment tools from the pre 2005 spec chart, it's probably made somewhere between late 90s-2005.

 

[Mktrat]

I have a USA. Based on the 6 bolt neck and adjustment tools from the pre 2005 spec chart, it's probably made somewhere between late 90s-2005.

Thanks for the info Metron.

 

[Nedmundo]

So it appears I got one of the dreaded buried truss rod nuts. It's sort of pointed downward (from the fretboard) into the neck wood at an angle such that I can't get the key in it. I guess the good news is it's not likely stripped since I don't think it's ever been used/adjusted.

Is there a fix for this that doesn't include boring out the wood around the nut?

My old L-1500 had this problem, and the truss rod nut sometimes vibrated against the headstock. I solved both issues by inserting a narrower hex key wrench into the nut, pulling the nut away from the wood, and inserting a chunk of rubber band under the nut. This lifted it slightly so I could insert the adjustment wrench, and leaving it there eliminated the vibration.

I think this was its original neck, which was replaced under warranty due to a faulty truss rod. I don't recall having this issue long-term with the permanent neck, but I'm not sure.

 

[metron]

My old L-1500 had this problem, and the truss rod nut sometimes vibrated against the headstock. I solved both issues by inserting a narrower hex key wrench into the nut, pulling the nut away from the wood, and inserting a chunk of rubber band under the nut. This lifted it slightly so I could insert the adjustment wrench, and leaving it there eliminated the vibration.

I think this was its original neck, which was replaced under warranty due to a faulty truss rod. I don't recall having this issue long-term with the permanent neck, but I'm not sure.

Thanks for chiming in Ned! I'll give that a shot this evening.

 

[TomB]

I had that "buried" truss nut problem with a 2006 USA SB-2. G&L sent me a replacement nut, but that didn't solve the problem. Ned's fix sounds interesting, and I wish I'd tried it, but I did end up filing out the access notch. Done carefully and finished flat black, it looked fine in the end and took care of the problem. ...not a fix that would appeal to everyone, I'm sure.

FWIW, I'd recommend trying out the stock tone scheme before modding it. As has been discussed so often on TB, the interaction of the two MFD pickups is very interesting, and offers a wide variety of sounds. However, if you roll off the bridge pickup altogether and the bass is still too bright for you, a tone control would fix that, I suppose. Maybe I just hate stacked knobs, sorry .

 

[Chef]

Just a brief update.
I've very much enjoyed getting to know these three.
I still think G&L blew the update from 1505 to Kiloton 5. Not that it's not a good bass, just could have been better with the preamp and bass/treble tone controls.
The 1005 is what I expected it would be, as a long time 1000 player, "but it's one of the good ones." I had many 1000's, but two that were memorably better than others. This is like those. And it's light at 8.4lbs, while the Kiloton is nearly 10. The 1505 is a little over 9...

 

[Band Mom]

I'm getting some strange sounding interaction between my Ampeg V4B and my L2K. Playing around the 7th fret or so, if I play staccato notes, I get this weird almost delayed compression after-note for a moment after muting the string. I thought at first it was picking up on my pick noise, but I can still hear it to a lesser degree when playing fingerstyle. It doesn't sound musical, more like string noise and less like a fretted note.

The bass doesn't have this issue with any of my other amps, and I currently have it set to both pups, parallel, and passive, so I haven't really tinkered around. And the Ampeg doesn't do this for any of my other basses. Ampeg is set to noonish treble and bass, and 2 o clock mids.

Any thoughts?

 

[Chef]

Does this happen using other amps?

 

[Band Mom]

No, it doesn't appear to happen with any other amps. Nor does it happen with any other basses on that amp. Weird, huh?

 

[GroovyBaby]

I'm getting some strange sounding interaction between my Ampeg V4B and my L2K. Playing around the 7th fret or so, if I play staccato notes, I get this weird almost delayed compression after-note for a moment after muting the string. I thought at first it was picking up on my pick noise, but I can still hear it to a lesser degree when playing fingerstyle. It doesn't sound musical, more like string noise and less like a fretted note.

The bass doesn't have this issue with any of my other amps, and I currently have it set to both pups, parallel, and passive, so I haven't really tinkered around. And the Ampeg doesn't do this for any of my other basses. Ampeg is set to noonish treble and bass, and 2 o clock mids.

Any thoughts?

Harmonics?

 

[Band Mom]

Hmm. Hadn't thought of that, though being around the 7th fret should have triggered that thought. All the same, it's strange that other amps don't pick up on it.

 

[metron]

I had that "buried" truss nut problem with a 2006 USA SB-2. G&L sent me a replacement nut, but that didn't solve the problem. Ned's fix sounds interesting, and I wish I'd tried it, but I did end up filing out the access notch. Done carefully and finished flat black, it looked fine in the end and took care of the problem. ...not a fix that would appeal to everyone, I'm sure.

FWIW, I'd recommend trying out the stock tone scheme before modding it. As has been discussed so often on TB, the interaction of the two MFD pickups is very interesting, and offers a wide variety of sounds. However, if you roll off the bridge pickup altogether and the bass is still too bright for you, a tone control would fix that, I suppose. Maybe I just hate stacked knobs, sorry .

Thanks for taking the time to share Tom! I can't see ever getting the nut out of mine. I tried Ned's suggestion but it's not budging, and I'm not going to try applying any real pressure. I'll have to snap a pic so you guys can see. Filing will probably be required.

I do love the tones, and I'm a little more familiar with it now after a few solid hours of practice time on it. Nasty and snarly, which is great because that's why I bought it! Both pups with the single dialed back 8.667% might be my favorite sound.