I actually got it a few months ago, but didn't want to talk about it until I'd spent some time with it. I bought it used and it needed a good bit of TLC. The action was all out of wack, but my tech took care of that. The most annoying thing was a crazy rattling sound that I eventually tracked down to a tuning key. I replaced it with one from the G&L store and now it is solid as a rock. The weight is, obviously, crazy awesome. Weight has become a super big issue for me and I've been watching reverb and e-bay for almost two years waiting for an Empress LB-100 to show up used for the right price at the right weight in the right color. There are 4 or 5 colors I would have been fine with, but Shoreline Gold is near the top of that list. I would have been a buyer at anything below about 7.8 lbs, so I when I spotted this one at a pound lighter than that, I almost hurt myself punching the "buy" button. It is crazy comfortable. There is the slightest tendency towards neck dive, but the tacky bottom of my leather strap more than ameliorates that. The more time I spend with this bass, the more I like it. The #12 neck w/ satin finish and medium jumbo frets all combine for a very playable bass guitar. It is insanely resonant. You can feel the whole thing humming when you play it. It is a wicked cool feeling. I'm finding myself really enjoying playing a practically new high end bass. I mostly buy and play vintage basses and there is something really nice about how perfectly everything operates on this thing (now that I've got it tuned up). No charming little idiosyncrasies to enjoy, just perfect functionality at every turn. It sounds killer. It feels brighter and less thumpy than all my old precision basses, but it has a really great presence. I'm probably going to go ahead and swap the cap out for the standard .047, as I mostly play my precisions with the tone all the way down. This one doesn't get the same smash with the tone turned off due to it's .022 cap. Paired with my Rumble 500, I've got a simple, killer rock and roll set up that I can take to a gig in an Uber with minimum fuss. I'm pretty stoked! {} {}
And I thought my empress LB-100 was light! Mine is Fullerton Red, but I'm digging that Shoreline. I've been wanting a tort guard for mine for awhile now, but I don't wanna throw down $80 for it through Chandler.
Beautiful color, incredible weight, precision-style, and a nice light amp. You really spoil yourself, friend.
Here are some related products that TB members are talking about. Clicking on a product will take you to TB’s partner, Primary, where you can find links to TB discussions about these products. Browser not compatible
