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My LB-100 is here! (NBD)

calypsocoral302

calypsocoral302

Oct 29, 2010
1,563
1,805
Central Pennsylvania
#1
So, she's here, and, so far, there is a lot to like, but also a few head-scratchers, unfortunately...

Plus:

- The finish is gorgeous
- Decent fretwork
- Excellent resonance and tone

Minus:

- I ordered the vintage tint satin finish on the neck-- looks like they only got the "satin" part right, unless the vintage tint is a lot lighter than I was expecting?
- A bit sloppy on the bass side of the neck joint. The treble side is air-tight, but I can slip a thin piece of paper between the neck & body on the bass side.

Obligatory photos:
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#3
TDR1138 said:
Congrats on the new bass, but sorry to hear it's not up to snuff. If it were mine, I'd remove the neck and see if I could figure out why it wasn't seating properly, maybe there's some buildup of something that's not causing it to sit all the way down.
Click to expand...

But first - it might just be a case of the bolts on that side not being tightened as much as they should be...
 
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#5
Before fooling with it, I would strongly suggest asking for G&Ls involvement through your dealer. Their bad reputation for dealing with customers is well earned, but sometimes they do resolve issues.

And if you mess with it and inadvertently "damage" something, it's easy for them to say that you are responsible for the whole thing.
 
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#7
Looks like you got a Quarter-Sawn neck! Nice upgrade if you didn't pay extra for it.

if it were mine, I would take the neck off and see what's going on in the pocket. Might be a buildup of buffing compound or paint that dried up in there (my Ibanez TMB had a thick glob of paint int he pocket that mage the neck seat at an angle. I had to use a chisel to scrape the paint out), or a piece of wood, or the neck wasn't seated in the pocket properly before sending the screws in there. I don't think it's worth getting the factory involved…
But then again, if you don't know how to use a screwdriver, maybe you should get Customer Service on the line.

Sweet bass, BTW. I played an LB100 one time and it blew me away. Best P-bass ever.
 
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#8
Update: I sent it back to G&L for a rebuild. Just got back from dropping it off at the FedEx store.

On a $500 Chinese import, I probably would have overlooked the neck pocket issue.

The problem is, I already own another Fullerton-made G&L-- an ASAT Classic made in 2015, and its' level of fit & finish is impeccable. So, I know what their shop is capable of. This bass, sadly, did not quite exhibit that same level of craftsmanship.

The piece of paper I was able to slip into the joint was able to touch the first bolt. The bolts had no slack and could not be further tightened. My local tech-- himself a former G&L dealer-- verified my assertions, and said he had never seen an issue like that come out of G&L when he sold them at his music store.

The real heartbreak is that, aside from the neck pocket issue, everything else about the bass was perfect! Good fretwork, amazing neck (the "vintage" width really felt great in my hand!), surprisingly-light but without noticeable neck dive, gorgeous & impeccable paint job. I really was very tempted to just keep it, despite the flaw.

But, I reasoned with myself, if enough people accept flawed workmanship, the shop could take that as permission to lower their QC standards further, and I didn't want to contribute to that possibility.

So now I'm back to waiting. I'll keep everyone posted when I hear something.

Thanks for the replies and support, everyone!
 
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#10
eastcoasteddie said:
Looks like you got a Quarter-Sawn neck! Nice upgrade if you didn't pay extra for it.

if it were mine, I would take the neck off and see what's going on in the pocket. Might be a buildup of buffing compound or paint that dried up in there (my Ibanez TMB had a thick glob of paint int he pocket that mage the neck seat at an angle. I had to use a chisel to scrape the paint out), or a piece of wood, or the neck wasn't seated in the pocket properly before sending the screws in there. I don't think it's worth getting the factory involved…
But then again, if you don't know how to use a screwdriver, maybe you should get Customer Service on the line.

Sweet bass, BTW. I played an LB100 one time and it blew me away. Best P-bass ever.
Click to expand...

As I had already notified the dealer of a possible return, I didn't want to do anything significant to the instrument-- even if it merely involves a screwdriver-- that would potentially jeopardize that process. I got my local tech to look at it as well, so that I could get a second pair of eyes on it, and he corroborated my assertion of a strong possibilty of the neck pocket cut being out-of-spec. If it were a Squier, I would have done what you outlined above.

Yes, that was Quartersawn Maple, I specified that on the order. The neck was absolutely glorious.
 
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#11
jfh2424 said:
Before fooling with it, I would strongly suggest asking for G&Ls involvement through your dealer. Their bad reputation for dealing with customers is well earned, but sometimes they do resolve issues.

And if you mess with it and inadvertently "damage" something, it's easy for them to say that you are responsible for the whole thing.
Click to expand...

BINGO!

Yes, this was my exact reasoning for doing nothing more than seeing if the bolts needed tightened.

The dealer was understanding and responsive in sending me an RMA label to send it back. For their part, Specialty Traders has been very communicative and prompt throughout the whole scenario.
 
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#15
two fingers said:
Love the color combo! I had seen Strats and Teles ans a few Jazz basses with that color combination over the years, but never a P bass (especially with a cream pickup). So I made one from parts (although my blue is lighter than yours).

Great choices. Good luck getting it sorted out.
Click to expand...

Yeah, G&L's palette for pastels is kind of interesting. They have not-quite-pastels like Coral, Bel-Air Green, and Turquoise. Their Shell Pink is very close to the Fender version, but their Surf Green looks both lighter and a tad bluer than the Fender Surf Green.

Himalayan Blue, however, is a very special one, as it is unambiguously a pastel, but with more color intensity than Fender's closest equivalent, Daphne Blue. It hit that sweet spot for me, so I had to have it!

Tort is my favorite contrast for solid pastels-- I'm not going to lie, part of the inspiration for my fixation with that combo is likely the fact that Cadbury mini-eggs are my favorite Easter candy!
 
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#16
Grizelda100 said:
Looks good with the vintage tint. Bummer about the neck issue.
Does it feel wobbly and loose? I honestly do not know how much a problem the gap is. I went back and looked at mine and it is a much tighter fit.
Click to expand...

The neck did not feel loose. It did, in fact, feel nice & solid. A cosmetic blemish would not have been enough for me to justify sending it back, but the fit on my G&L ASAT Classic guitar is positively air-tight, so I had no reason to believe a potentially out-of-spec (can't say with 100% certainty without removing the neck) neck pocket cut was normal or acceptable.
 
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#17
calypsocoral302 said:
Yeah, G&L's palette for pastels is kind of interesting. They have not-quite-pastels like Coral, Bel-Air Green, and Turquoise. Their Shell Pink is very close to the Fender version, but their Surf Green looks both lighter and a tad bluer than the Fender Surf Green.

Himalayan Blue, however, is a very special one, as it is unambiguously a pastel, but with more color intensity than Fender's closest equivalent, Daphne Blue. It hit that sweet spot for me, so I had to have it!

Tort is my favorite contrast for solid pastels-- I'm not going to lie, part of the inspiration for my fixation with that combo is likely the fact that Cadbury mini-eggs are my favorite Easter candy!
Click to expand...

Here's how mine turned out. I've had a few necks on it, but actually like this MIM P neck the most. PAF era creme DiMarzio pickup. It will do the round thump thing if asked to. But it will also growl like a tiger.
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The only thing I want to do is swap out that bridge for a standard stamped one.
 
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#18
two fingers said:
Here's how mine turned out. I've had a few necks on it, but actually like this MIM P neck the most. PAF era creme DiMarzio pickup. It will do the round thump thing if asked to. But it will also growl like a tiger. View attachment 4710038

The only thing I want to do is swap out that bridge for a standard stamped one.
Click to expand...

Dude! The cream pickup covers look awesome with that combo! Why didn't I think of that!?!?!

As for the bridge-- that looks like a Bad@ss III-- why on earth would you replace that with a basic stamped one? I mean, there's nothing wrong with that, as my current P-bass, a late-80's Korean Cort-made P-clone, has a stamped bridge & it works just fine, but part of the reason I zeroed-in on the LB-100 was the beefy G&L saddle-lock bridge.

Regardless, that is, indeed a mighty fine-looking P-bass! Looks like Daphne Blue, if I'm not mistaken?

How do you like the response of the DiMarzio Model P? I ask because that pickup is on my "short list" for a parts-bass build I've been mulling-over for a while...
 
#20
@calypsocoral302 I hope things get resolved for you quickly. I'm in a similar boat, received my SB-2 build in early April, and noticed some issues with a couple of frets not reaching the edge of the fretboard. I too decided that I might let it go on a cheaper instrument, but not a new build from G&L. Honestly, I might have even let it go if I wasn't so close to the factory; I was able to drop it off in person and talk to Memo directly. He was even more critical of the fretwork than I. That said, they've had it for about 4 weeks now and still counting…
 
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