G&L SB-1 vs L-1000

[Larry Mal]

Hi everyone. So, this might be a weird thread, since I'm asking about the difference between an SB-1 and an L-1000, and I actually own both of these basses.

However, my L-1000 is out of commission and has been for a while, so I bought an SB-1 to fulfill the role of the P bass/L-1000 and that's what it's been doing. It's an excellent bass.

I am kind of considering buying another L-1000, one of the new CLF ones. But:

1) One day I'll buy a new neck for the L-1000 from G&L and

2) I just don't know if it will do all that much, other than the OMG mode, that my SB-1 doesn't do.

I could sell the SB-1 to fund the new L-1000.

So my question is, for those of you that own both, or that have an SB-2, do you find that they pretty much overlap?

My other thought is buying a Kiloton, which would obviously add a lot more different sonic character to what I have.

What do you all think?

 

[Dave TB Killer]

What is wrong with the L 1000 neck?

 

[Larry Mal]

What is wrong with the L 1000 neck?

The truss rod has failed. Seems to be a pretty common thing with these older necks... it's a 1983 or so, a very early one.

G&L will make me an almost exact copy once I sent the bass to them. It's a wonderful neck on there, the nut width is 1.75", just a tremendous instrument.

 

[Dave TB Killer]

The truss rod has failed. Seems to be a pretty common thing with these older necks... it's a 1983 or so, a very early one.

G&L will make me an almost exact copy once I sent the bass to them. It's a wonderful neck on there, the nut width is 1.75", just a tremendous instrument.

Is the rod broken, or the nut just maxed out?

 

[Larry Mal]

Is the rod broken, or the nut just maxed out?

I tried to add some washers to it in order to get some purchase, and started splitting the top of the fingerboard around the nut.

I took it to a technician some years ago, he wasn't of the opinion that anything could be done, and I can't think of anything either.

 

[Dave TB Killer]

I tried to add some washers to it in order to get some purchase, and started splitting the top of the fingerboard around the nut.

I took it to a technician some years ago, he wasn't of the opinion that anything could be done, and I can't think of anything either.

Yeah, rod is maxed out. It can be repaired but just not by any tech. This a very advanced type of repair and a replacement neck would be more feasible.

 

[Larry Mal]

That's what I came to conclude. If I recall correctly, the channel that the truss rod entered into the neck from is on the side of the neck, I told a very knowledgable guy about how I was thinking about pulling the fretboard and trying to repair it and he told me that would never work.

 

[ProbablyTooLoud]

I just have to chime in and say the pickup on a Kiloton is a beast and with the the three way switch + using the tone and volume knobs creatively you really can cover a lot of ground. But I haven't played an SB-1 or 2 so that's all I have to offer.

 

[Iridescentone]

Before doing anything drastic I'd get in touch with the guys at warpedneck.com first. They'll be able to give you solid info on what, if anything, can be done. It may not be as bad as you think.

 

[Larry Mal]

Yeah, I mean, a new one from G&L is $500 plus shipping (the whole bass), and that can't be a lot more than repairing this neck.

 

[Iridescentone]

Yeah, I mean, a new one from G&L is $500 plus shipping (the whole bass), and that can't be a lot more than repairing this neck.

Depends on exactly what repair is needed, or even possible. You won't know for sure until you talk with someone who specializes in repairing bad necks every day.

 

[Iridescentone]

I tried to add some washers to it in order to get some purchase, and started splitting the top of the fingerboard around the nut.

I took it to a technician some years ago, he wasn't of the opinion that anything could be done, and I can't think of anything either.

Well that sounds like at least the truss rod is neither broken, nor frozen because it turns and tries to move the neck. That's a good sign. It may not be a "truss rod" problem, after all. It might be just a "wood" problem instead, which can often be cured for not too much money. But it'll take a specialist like warpedneck.com. Good luck.

 

[Iridescentone]

Just for kicks here's a G&L SB-2 bi-cut neck. I'll leave it here with you guys to speculate on exactly what might have been done to it.

Clues:
The truss rod worked fine after the repair.
There were signs of regluing the board for a few inches at the butt end, going up both sides of the neck.

 

[GlennRH]

@Larry Mal

G&L makes the L-1000 bass with a .001 mfd loading capacitor in the circuit. It also appears stock on L-2000 basses. Leo Fender himself designed the circuits in these basses and chose to include it. The Kiloton model, introduced long after Mr Fender's passing, lacks it.

The importance of the .001 mfd loading capacitor lies in setting the resonant frequency of the pickup lower than without it. So says Paul Gagon, the person G&L hired to replace Mr Fender as pickup- and circuit-designer shortly after Mr Fender's departure.

I had a .001 mfd loading capacitor added to the circuit of my L-1500 bass (soldered to the bass-cut pot: center lug to back of pot). The L-1500 model appeared about 5 years after Mr Fender's demise, preceded by the identical-circuit Climax bass and replaced by the Kiloton about 20 years later. Put simply, this capacitor gives the pickup even bigger balls. If I were to own a Kiloton bass, I'd definitely have this done.

I played an SB-1 bass for 9 years. The SB-1 comes stock with abundantly big balls. With the right strings and right playing technique on an SB-1, you need nothing - not a wunkay, nor a Kiloton. As you likely have learned, a bassist playing a G&L SB-1 must take care not to embarrass players of P-basses with alnico pickups, because of its hot, high-output split-coil MFD pickup.

 

[ComeHomeShane]

In my experience with these basses here's what I've found... keep in mind this is just my opinion:

SB2 > SB1 > Kiloton > L1000

Out of those 4 I only currently own the Kiloton because I can get it to sound like a Ray or a P. I typically use it as my back-up bass for cover band gigs for that reason. But also it has one of my all time favorite necks.

If we're being super picky about tone... I'm not a huge fan of the L1000. The tone is too nasally for what my ears want from a centered pick up. Also the string spacing is not my favorite.

SB1 is great, but I never used it. Most of the time when I needed a P bass type sound the rest of the band found the SB1 to be too punchy. If you have a setting that allows you to get away with this, go for it! Just IME it was never quite the right tool for the job when playing with guitarists that just want it to sound like a P bass.

The SB2 has one of my favorite mid-scooped tones of all time! When you treble off the tone knob the neck pups are pretty darn close to the SB1. Also, the SB2 has the 1.5" jazz bass style neck, which is hard to beat for me. However, since the majority of my gigs are cover/tribute, I ran into the same problem as the SB1, so I don't currently own one.

All that being said... if the type of tone that you need for a gig is not a factor, I think they're all in the same tonal family that you can pick your favorite and it'll do the same jobs as the others. If you're really enjoying the SB1, I don't think the others are different enough to justify needing to buy.

If you're just gassing for a new G&L, I say go big and custom order an empress wood M2500 with the slimmest neck that they'll fit you with.

 

[Holdsg]

If you want a P bass, get a P bass.
But if you want a P bass with balls, get a new L-1000 (or replace the neck). 80s vintage L-1000s are pretty easy to find used for not stupid vintage money. Or get one of the new CLF versions (in purple, yeah) and rock the snot out of it.
I haven't owned an SB1, so I can't compare.
But I do own an El Toro that is my pride and joy Jazz bass on steroids. Love the MFDs in that. Just make it sing compared to the limp-biscuit Fender Jazz bass that it replaced.

 

[BlushResponse]

I love my SB1. It's my go-to bass. I sold my L1000 to a friend, but I still have a fretless L1000. Back to the SB1; I found the MFD pickups to be way too much. I have since changed them to a set of Nordstrand pickups. Now the thing sounds like a killer p bass. If I buy another G&L, it would be a Kiloton.

 

[Larry Mal]

If you want a P bass, get a P bass.
But if you want a P bass with balls, get a new L-1000 (or replace the neck). 80s vintage L-1000s are pretty easy to find used for not stupid vintage money. Or get one of the new CLF versions (in purple, yeah) and rock the snot

Yeah, I'm a little leery of getting another vintage G&L, though. I love them! But I understand that the truss rod failures of the early basses is fairly common.

Although everyone here telling me to get the neck fixed makes me think I should haul the old L-1000 out and string it up again, see if I can maybe have better success.

 

[fermata]

The SB-1 is a special bass: yes, it can offer a modern, almost hyped take on the classic P sound, but by dialing back the volume and tone, it can get close to the classic sound, too. The pickup is so responsive to those two controls that it feels — to me — more like an active or two-pickup bass.

I've also enjoyed the Kilotons I've tried, although not quite as much as the SB-1.

But in your situation, I'd stick with the SB-1 and add a Kiloton for variety.

 

[TDR1138]

I have a L-1000, L-2000 and just received a SB-2, so I'll chime in.

The L-1000 to me is more malleable, meaning that the pickup to me is a little broader, and with the controls, you can really tweak the sounds you get out of it. The SB-2 neck pickup is more like a P on a healthy dose of PCP. It's loud, brash, and your options to control it are much more limited. Not that that's a bad thing, but I definitely feel they occupy similar but still separate spaces. Just my two cents, and I love me some MFDs.

Also want to mention that my L-1000 ('88) did have a truss rod that was bottomed out when I got it and didn't want to handle strings with more tension than light gauge rounds. And the frets were low from one too many levelings. So I had it refretted and the luthier used frets with larger tangs. Totally helped. Now it is strung with some GHS P flats with a fair amount of tension to them, and I still have about a full turn or more before I run out of adjustment on the truss rod. Just pointing out that there may be other options available to get the neck working right.