G&L JB Tribute (opinions/reviews)

These are very good basses but also very different. 5 strings vs 4 strings, and the L tone is very specific. It's like choosing between apples and oranges.

 

I had a Tribute L2000. Sold it when I bought my USA-made L2000. The electronics are the same and the MFD pickups are the best stock pickups made...I really like the adjustable pole pieces, something not available on the Jazz bass...and the tone options alone put it in a different category. Now, with several new finish options, the trans orange and natural look great with the maple fretboards, they're even more desirable, and the TSB with matching headstock is the only burst bass I've ever considered buying...first G&L I ever played and the one that made me realize all the G&L hype was genuine.

I was actually talking to someone about buying a USA JB and having MFD J pickups installed...they're that good.
I've read here that the JBs are good jazz basses, no doubt, but they're simply not L2000s.

 

To be honest I don't see the point in putting L pickups in a JB. My son has an MJ-4 (a JB with G&L preamp), I have an M-2500 and they are both excellent basses. He actually likes his G&L better than his '85 MIJ Fender JB which is a lot to say. When I bought my M I also tried the L model but that wasn't the tone I was looking for. So if you want an L, nothing comes even close to it, true. But if you don't particularly want an L then you may not want one.

 

I want MFD J pickups in a JB...the ones they put in the SB-2.
I already have an L2000, I have a VM Jazz, and I’d like a more powerful G&L JB.
People put different pickups in Fender Jazz basses all the time.
I've even seen people mod G&Ls with their favorite pickups.
I want mine to be different.

 

OK, I'll state the obvious GAS-inspired TB response: If possible, get both. IMO, you can cover just about everything with a good J-bass and an L-2500. That's a perfect combination, and if the J happens to be a G&L, even better!

In recent years, I've realized I don't truly need anything beyond my M-2500 and one of my J-basses. I'm not planning to thin the herd yet, but I might eventually.

 

The pickups might be a question mark with the JB Trib. Those in my JB-2 Trib were thin and nasally but when I swapped them out for CB Barts it was a heck of an instrument. The offshore MFD pickups seem to be a better match for their US bretheren than is the case with the J’s since the US JB-2’s are just fine and the Trib L’s and SB-2’s are excellent.

 

I understand you refer to the JB.
Actually, SB-1/SB-2 PUs are MFD split (neck) and single (bridge) coils.
SB-2

 

Yes, there seems to be some confusion here. "MFD pickups" are used in the following models: ASAT, L-2000/2500, M-2000/2500, SB-1/2, L-1500, Kiloton. These basses use non-MFD pickups: JB/JB5, JB-2, MJ-4/5, LB-100.

 

Oh my, thats pretty.... Thanks for the GAS!

 

ive never played a bad G&L. Probably the best JB for the price if I had to guess. I've played other G&L models in the same price point, and they were setup perfectly and just sounded awesome.

 

“Offshore MFD pickups” ???

 

Yup. Best information (at least in the G&L Club Part 7) is that the pickups in the G&L Tribute series (that's MFD pickups and non-MFD pickups—as noted correctly above by @Temcat—are not necessarily made in the US, just nominally made to the same specs as their US counterparts. The Tribute basses with MFD pickups appear to have pickups that are really good and comparable to those in the US basses: the Tribute L2000 or SB-2 for instance. However, the Tribute basses with non-MFD pickups don't necessarily fare as well. For instance, in the JB-2 line the US-made basses had two pickups with different lengths—short in neck position, longer in bridge position, much like a Fender jazz bass. The pickups were evidently very nice. The Tribute JB-2 by constrast had two short pickups and they've not been well-received: by me and some other TBers. Our reasonable conclusion is that the offshore pickups in the JB-2 were *not* like those in the US version—although other aspects of the basses were great. What the specific situation with the Tribute JB bass is, I don't know.

 

Hogwash

 

I'm interested in these as well.

The Bass Hang guy has a video on them:



Also the new tribute LB-100 P basses look killer too:


Been hearing great things about those so far.

 

Steve seems like a very nice guy but G&L has the worst sounding bass demos of any major manufacturer.

 

Love my tribute L2500, sounds fantastic, great build quality. I bought it as a backup and giggable bass for inclement weather. It stands up to my other basses which cost two and three times as much.

 

I’m interesting in getting one the tribute 5 strings. Thing is no one sells G&L around here and call me snobby or whatever but I’m stubborn about avoiding basses with basswood bodies after a bad experience with a musicman bongo. Can anyone break it down which G&L tribute basses have ash or alder bodies maybe?