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G&L Tribute SB-2 Keep it or return it?

K

ksandvik

Dec 10, 2007
3,414
46
SF Bay Area North CA
www.kentsandvik.com
#1
I got a decent/good deal on a G&L Tribute SB-2 and it arrived earlier this week. Still confused if I should keep it or return it:

* The neck was narrow at end, close to a tight Strat and long, too, strange playing it. Same with the frets, smallest mini-jumbos I've encountered.
* The feeling is very clinic, it's perfect to the point of being too perfect. Especially the neck.
* It's also one of the most light basses I've ever encountered, there's something about semi-weight and bass tones...
* I get a feel in this was designed for guitar players switching instruments...

The bass is extremely well manufactured and otherwise top-notch but the experience is weird, for me. Same with the two volume knobs, it's very different, don't mind it, like mixing two different sources and see what happens tone-wise.

Wonder if this bass gets more personality if I keep it around or if it will always be like this one of clinically perfect bass with really no unique personality...

For someone coming from the P-bass world it is a very strange experience playing this bass.

PS: This reminds me the first time I owned an EBMM guitar, very different...
 
#3
I thought the Tribute necks were G&L's wider profile. Similar to a Fender P, as opposed to a J neck. If the nut end feels too narrow to you, what are you used to playing??
 
#5
I've had a Tribute SB-2 for about 2-3 years now I think and have been pretty happy with it. I chose it because it really fills a nitch in my arsenal of basses that needed filling (specifically: a aggressive, growling & snarling versatile kind of p-bass). I guess you'd have to ask yourself why you really got the thing in the first place & if it fills that purpose.
 
#6
ksandvik said:
I got a decent/good deal on a G&L Tribute SB-2 and it arrived earlier this week. Still confused if I should keep it or return it:

* The neck was narrow at end, close to a tight Strat and long, too, strange playing it. Same with the frets, smallest mini-jumbos I've encountered.
* The feeling is very clinic, it's perfect to the point of being too perfect. Especially the neck.
* It's also one of the most light basses I've ever encountered, there's something about semi-weight and bass tones...
* I get a feel in this was designed for guitar players switching instruments...

The bass is extremely well manufactured and otherwise top-notch but the experience is weird, for me. Same with the two volume knobs, it's very different, don't mind it, like mixing two different sources and see what happens tone-wise.

Wonder if this bass gets more personality if I keep it around or if it will always be like this one of clinically perfect bass with really no unique personality...

For someone coming from the P-bass world it is a very strange experience playing this bass.

PS: This reminds me the first time I owned an EBMM guitar, very different...
Click to expand...

This thing sounds like my dream bass. Is this an advertisement ;)
 
#9
I recently sold a JB-2. It was all of the above, but it was super trebley, I could not seem to get enough low end out of it without altering my whole rig (impractical when using more than one bass). But in terms of playability it felt fantastic.
If you like a bright snappy sound the JB-2 is great.
I say live with your SB-2 for a while. As someone else said, it may just be very different from what you are used to.
 

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