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My First G&L

entisgood

entisgood

Mar 14, 2010
77
25
NYC
#1
Made a little treasure find on Craig's list yesterday...

Picked up what I think is a 1995 (by serial number B027064) G&L sb-2, MIA for only $450 w/ hsc. I've been GASing hard over an early 80s JJ style sb-2 but can't find one for sale for the right price. I was skeptical about the VV config of the modern sb-2s but when I saw this for $450 I couldn't resist.

It's pretty clean and I think this bass is going to be a monster, but it needs some work, pickup heights need to be adjusted bc the neck pu clips my speakers when i dig in and the bridge pickup is kind of dull and quiet, sharp frets and the action is way too high. It's currently set up with flats that feel really tight and harder to play than my other basses with flats. Maybe I'm just starting to realize I like the way flats sound, but not the way they play.

I don't mess with truss rods but I have an appointment with a reputable local repair guy when he gets back from NAMM. Even with my complaints about the setup and pickup heights, this thing sounds awesome, can't wait to get it playing and sounding the way it should.

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The a string kind of sits on top of the nut
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#5
Try adjusting your amp setting before adjusting the pickup height. I treat mine as if it's an active bass even though it's not. The pickups are much hotter than any other passive bass I have. Also, I never turn the V/V knobs up to 10. I typically leave them at 8 at the most.

The bridge pickup is meant to mainly be a tone control. It really isn't meant to be solo'ed.
 
#6
An MIA G&L for $450 is a great deal.
Regarding the pickups; the neck pickups on these are very high output. Even if you lower it. I usually run mine with the volume turned down about half way. The bridge pickup is intended to be used more as a tone control by blending it with the neck pup. It won't sound very good on it's own.
 
#7
The early J/J pickup SB-2's sound completely different than the P/J models. The modern SB-2's sound like a supercharged P bass while the early ones sound more like a high output J bass. If you find one some day at the right price you won't have much overlap tone wise, if at all.
 
#8
Nice! First cousin to my SB-2. :D

As has been suggested, if you're clipping your amp's input, turn down the input gain. Plug it into your Active input, if you have one and the input gain doesn't take of it by itself.

When you adjust the volume knobs, it really affects the tone, so I would suggest playing with different volume settings to get the tone you want, then adjust your input gain to match. If you just always run it with the volume at 50% or 80%, you'll only ever be getting one tone out of many that are available to you.

When I want my SB-2 to sound like a traditional Fender Precision, I just roll the P pickup volume down to roughly 75% and roll the J pickup volume off and it sounds exactly like a Fender P. But, with the P pickup turned up all the way, it has an aggressive edge to the P sound that I LOVE!

When I first got my SB-2, I played with the 2 volume settings and was seriously impressed by all the different tones you can get just by doing that. Tip: The J pickup does not sound good soloed, BUT try it with the J pickup turned up all the way and the P pickup volume set almost, but not all the way, off. Say, somewhere between 10% and 25%. THAT is a sound I was not expecting to get!

Anyway, when I first figured out all the different tones I can get, I also felt like I wanted a regular Tone knob to let me roll off some of the high end buzz or finger noise. Then I played it in a band setting and all the high end that I didn't want simply disappeared. No way I could hear it in the mix. At that point, I decided I did not need a Tone knob after all.

However, a year or so passed and I decided that I wanted my SB-2 to be able to get that tone that you get with a Fender P with the Tone all the way off. That really thumpy sound is totally "right" for some songs or types of music. So, for about $15 in parts and a little quality time with my screw driver and soldering iron, I changed out my controls for 2 stacked pots and added a Master Volume and a Tone. I think it's an awesome mod, totally reversible, and totally worth the price of admission. Now, I can get any sound out of it that I could get with a regular Fender P, plus it has so many more tones available by cranking the P pickup volume and by adding in some (or a lot of) J pickup volume.

Congrats on your steal of a deal!

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#9
Congrats - I was working a shipped deal with the seller when he told me it had a neck screw pressing into the fretboard from the rear so he was gonna keep it as a beater. I guess honesty isn't the best policy in Brooklyn :rolleyes:

Enjoy the SB2 - they are great
 
#14
The MFD split-coil will put out a whole lotta bass - so it may just be that the E string is only one putting out enough signal to clip your amp. If it's out of balance from the rest you've got the pickup-half tilt/height screws and the pole pieces to adjust to get it balanced to your liking. That's one of the things I really like about the MFD split-coil, how much adjustability you have to get the balance just right for you.

Also make sure the string isn't hitting the pole - that is a pretty nasty sound when that happens. Since it's passive there aren't any onboard electronics to clip (my L-series clip really easily when the batteries get weak).
 

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