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G&L JB Tribute (opinions/reviews)

Aaronk0

Aaronk0

Guest
May 25, 2016
13
19
#1
Hey guys I wanted to put some feelers out to see if anyone has brought or managed to get their hands on the new G&L JB Tribute.

They've just became started to appear in the UK market and I'm really close to buying the Lake Placid Blue model but would love to get any information I could on this.

I have the choice of a TSB L2500 Tribute for only slightly more too, so any opinions on that would be greatly appreciated.
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#3
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.
 
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#4
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.
 
#5
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.
 
#6
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.
 
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#7
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.
 
#10
twinjet said:
To my knowledge, G&L produces no single coils that are considered MFDs. Only Alnico Vs, which come installed on the bass anyway. What would you be changing on the bass?
Click to expand...

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.
 
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#13
jmlee said:
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.
Click to expand...
"Offshore MFD pickups" ???
:thumbsdown::banghead:
 
#14
BOOG said:
"Offshore MFD pickups" ???
:thumbsdown::banghead:
Click to expand...

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.
 
#17
Glazenn said:
I understand you refer to the JB.
Actually, SB-1/SB-2 PUs are MFD split (neck) and single (bridge) coils.
SB-2
Click to expand...

Temcat said:
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.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the clarification. I did mean for that JB. I suppose you could load two singles off an SB-2.
 
#19
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.
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