G&L Club Part 7

[Joshua]

Definitely in P-land. I replaced the pickup in mine with a Lindy Fralin pickup, which for me is the P-bass sound I hear in my head. The stock G&L pickup in the LB-100 is very close to that, and thus I think pretty much smack in the classic P-bass sound. And you're right, as a class of instruments, "P-basses" are ridiculously versatile for the simplicity of their design. I played my '68 Fender P and nothing else for more than 20 years in a shockingly wide range of genres and between fingerstyle/thumb/pick, hand placement, palm muting, and tone control tweaking was able to get a perfectly viable tone in all of it. I still have that bass, although I don't take it out much anymore, and the LB-100 does what that Fender does, and in someways it's more resonant, lighter (in Empress), and very, very pretty (which that Fender ain't anymore).

I'm definitely new to the whole P bass thing as a player, and this is the first which really stuck with me. Thanks for the feedback!

I forget when this happened, but based on pickguardheaven's LB-100 offerings I think it was around 2015...

G&L actually moved the pickup location to be exactly like a Precision sometime around 2015. Prior to that, the pickup was biased towards the bridge just a smidge (like 1/4" or so). So now when you buy a replacement pickguard for an LB-100, you actually need to know the year your bass was built if you want one that fits right.

Fun fact!

** EDIT - oh, and thanks for the kind words, Josh! **

Bam! It sure seemed to me to be in the traditional place, and it sounds like that's the deal. Hope all is well!

The LB-100 pickup is wound at 10,500 turns, vs the standard P at 10,000 turns, so it's effectively a 5% overwind. Otherwise, pretty normal P pickup design.

Now there's the skinny! Love it! And it explains that smidge of extra bite it seems to have when one digs in a little bit. Gracias!

 

[ped]

Hi folks. I love the crackle paint aluminium(?) scratch plate on my SB1 and would love to have a matching one made for a pre EB Musicman. I think someone here mentioned where they had one made for their G&L but I can't find the link. Any ideas? I'm in the UK though so perhaps I can find someone here if you guys know the type of paint etc?

 

[ahbass2500]

Tone-Guard appears to make a MusicMan powder coated aluminum guard. US based company, but appears to offer international shipping. Note I have not used them; I just recall seeing them mentioned before. You might also be able to find one on Reverb or Etsy.

 

[ped]

Thanks!

 

[armybass]

NBD. Got a killer new CLF L2000 from Greg @RocketMusic The man knows how to pick em. The CLF L2K has to be my absolute favorite active/passive bass. What an incredible array of tones. And such a playable beauty.

 

[JES]

Congrats. Enjoy it! I've got an older gold L2K that (right now) I've been playing at the park once a week and it sparkles beautifully in the sun.

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

There is a sunburst and maple necked L2000 Tribute for sale 3 miles away from me for $425. Having a very hard time not messaging the seller.

It's purty, but if you expect anyone here to talk you out if acquiring a new bass, you are delusional.

 

[Protagonist]

It's purty, but if you expect anyone here to talk you out if acquiring a new bass, you are delusional.

Too late.

 

[NOLA Bass]

New Bass Day.

Custom Shop Matador

Alder body
Quartersawn maple neck with birdseye maple board
2 MFD pickups
2 vol, 1 tone and kill switch
Candy Apple Red with matching headstock

 

[Holdsg]

Fantastic bass Rob

 

[Lucky Chuck]

Happy NBD.

 

[TDR1138]

View attachment 3930153 New Bass Day.

Custom Shop Matador

Alder body
Quartersawn maple neck with birdseye maple board
2 MFD pickups
2 vol, 1 tone and kill switch
Candy Apple Red with matching headstock

View attachment 3930151

Is that much firepower even legal??

 

[Sodbuster]

 

[bdgotoh]

View attachment 3930153
New Bass Day.

Custom Shop Matador

Alder body
Quartersawn maple neck with birdseye maple board
2 MFD pickups
2 vol, 1 tone and kill switch
Candy Apple Red with matching headstock

View attachment 3930151

Congrats, that's really beautiful! I should have my Matador with MFDs in a couple of weeks!

Does yours really have a kill switch? The switch on my first Matador is series/parallel for the neck pickup. I wish they would make the switch a pickup selector and use the PTB controls instead of the vol/vol/tone.

 

[NOLA Bass]

Congrats, that's really beautiful! I should have my Matador with MFDs in a couple of weeks!

Does yours really have a kill switch? The switch on my first Matador is series/parallel for the neck pickup. I wish they would make the switch a pickup selector and use the PTB controls instead of the vol/vol/tone.

Yeah, I hate having to turn two volumes off on stage, so had them do it as a kill switch instead of the s/p selector.

 

[jcburn]

Random question.

I realise that a L2500 pickup is built for a bass with 17mm string spacing. Surely though if I was to utilise one of these on a 5 string Jazz bass (smack bang in the middle of the 2 J pickups) it should cater for a bass with 18mm at the bridge?
I have an experiment in mind, and the bass in question is a Jazz with 18mm string spacing at the bridge

 

[Bleecker]

Good morning! I'm looking for a number for this great club. I have 1994 SB-2 that I absolutely love. I just purchased a like new 2020 LB100 for my son. It definitely needs a set-up and I'm putting flat wounds on her.
And here they are...

 

[red7flag]

I have an G&L lb-100 that I love and is my primary ax. I am curious on how the L&B sounds in comparison to Fenders early sixties Ps or the American Made Ps of today. I did play one American P at a box store, but there was so much noise that I could not hear what the Fender sounded like. Thanks in advance.

 

[Nedmundo]

I have an G&L lb-100 that I love and is my primary ax. I am curious on how the L&B sounds in comparison to Fenders early sixties Ps or the American Made Ps of today. I did play one American P at a box store, but there was so much noise that I could not hear what the Fender sounded like. Thanks in advance.

I compared modern LB-100s against American Pro Fenders a couple of times at GCs, but the first comparison wasn't very revealing because the Fender had dead strings. Second time, both had fresh strings and I thought they sounded almost identical, but the G&L pickup had slightly more output. Both sounded great, like I'd want a P-bass to sound.

They're both excellent, but I prefer the G&L because of the bridge, better finishes, Plek-levelled frets, and the ability to order the finish, nut width, and fretboard radius I want. I generally think USA G&L's quality is slightly higher, but it's not a big difference, and some of that perception probably comes from G&L's finishes, which are simply the best in the biz IMO.

 

[Holdsg]

Pickups are the key to the tone of any P bass.
Differences between versions can be subtle or significant. the G&L vintage P pickup in the LB-100 is a very good pickup. Nails the classic P tone.
So after that, you add goodies like Nedmundo mentions, you could easily claim that the LB out-Leo's Fenders.

I personally prefer the Lollar pickup for vintage tones. I just put those in my SB-1 to make it more vintage sounding. Yes I'm keeping the MFDs if I ever want to go back.