NBD...pleasant surprise! G&L

[selowitch]

Oh, man, I forgot about Chuck Levins, I haven't been there since I picked up bass, used to buy a ton of cymbals there. I need to check them out again and Make N' Music. The last time I lived in this area, the Best Buy in Rockville had an interestingly robust music section, I believe they gave up on that idea though.

That's correct. When Best Buy decided to exit the musical instruments business, I immediately thought of the Squier Classic Vibe 60s Precision Bass I had seen on the wall (in Sonic Blue). I went over there are it was on clearance for a crazy good price. It was an exciting snag for me. Stupidly, I ended up selling it when what I should have done is put on a set of flatwound strings.

I was wondering what Best Buy was thinking entering that market.

 

[Nedmundo]

Wow, great score! I've seen those Ruby Red/Tort/rosewood LB-100s in two other GCs, so they must have ordered a bunch. Same with the natural/maple ones. Awesome basses.

Oddly, I've only seen new G&Ls at one of the three GCs in the Philly area (the one in Wilmington, DE), and GCs aren't listed as dealers on G&L's web site. I'd expect G&L would want to promote availability in such a major retailer.

By the way, I have an M-2500 in Ruby Red Metallic, and I think it's one of G&L's coolest finishes, which is high praise considering their array of great finishes. It's very dark in low light, but "pops" under stage lights. It's classy, but not boring. I wish my M had a matching painted headstock, but it still looks fantastic.

 

[bassgtarman]

I think it looks great with the tortoise, personally.

 

[Cool Bass]

I think it looks great with the tortoise, personally.

Mine is staying tortoise. Although black might look good too. If you change out the pick guard, post pics please.

 

[BaltBass5]

It’s funny because I’m just south of Baltimore so the GC in Glen Burnie is about 5 miles. Towson is about 15 miles, Laurel (New Store) is about 15 miles and the Silver Spring and Rockville are about 20 miles. The thing is that they cater to very different demos even though they’re close.

Glen Burnie rarely has any high end basses at all as they cater to the entry to mid-level blue collar metalheads.

Towson are has some money and lots of colleges so they tend to have a lot more boutique pedals and basses....Always a lot of American Fenders, Warwick, etc..

Laurel is new and small so similar to GB

Rockville tends to have a lot of high end and unique stuff.

 

[selowitch]

It’s funny because I’m just south of Baltimore so the GC in Glen Burnie is about 5 miles. Towson is about 15 miles, Laurel (New Store) is about 15 miles and the Silver Spring and Rockville are about 20 miles. The thing is that they cater to very different demos even though they’re close.

Glen Burnie rarely has any high end basses at all as they cater to the entry to mid-level blue collar metalheads.

Towson are has some money and lots of colleges so they tend to have a lot more boutique pedals and basses....Always a lot of American Fenders, Warwick, etc..

Laurel is new and small so similar to GB

Rockville tends to have a lot of high end and unique stuff.

I wonder how the Virginia and Delaware stores compare.

 

[BOOG]

so yesterday I went into GC just for the hell of it. I’ve basically given up on them these days but this particular GC I hadn’t been to in a while. (I have 4 within a 30 mile radius) This one typically has some better gear...I was shocked that they had 5 G&L USA Basses on the Wall way up high on the 3rd tier. I had them pull down a brand new LB 100 to try it out and found that they had all 5 Basses massively clearanced. To make a long story short, I fell in love with a beautiful LB 100 in metallic burgundy with a cream body edging....walked with it brand new in the case for $894! OF COURSE the Pickguard has GOT to go!

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Gotta agree with you on that
I like the p/g I got from here

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

Rec on red is the real deal ... super cool don't change it

 

[eastcoasteddie]

I wonder how the Virginia and Delaware stores compare.

Of the Va stores, Fairfax is best, followed by 7-corners. The Alexandria store is about a year old and has a modest selection.

 

[Band Mom]

For anyone interested in an L2000, they have two with rosewood fretboards and tobacco/honey burst going for $1K even. That's a steal!

 

[sailri]

GC used to overprice G&Ls I think but very fair pricing on what you found. Fredericksburg has a metallic red sparkle JB2 for $749! [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] Thanks for sharing your story

 

[BaltBass5]

I’m going to sell this bass. Looks amazing and plays beautiful, but all my other Basses are Jazz Basses and I just don’t like the neck on the G&L. Anyone interested?

 

[Band Mom]

Man, if I hadn't just dropped a ton of cash on a new custom L2K, I'd be all over this. Sorry you don't like it, but I'm sure that bass will find a good home soon...

 

[Antisyzygy]

so yesterday I went into GC just for the hell of it. I’ve basically given up on them these days but this particular GC I hadn’t been to in a while. (I have 4 within a 30 mile radius) This one typically has some better gear...I was shocked that they had 5 G&L USA Basses on the Wall way up high on the 3rd tier. I had them pull down a brand new LB 100 to try it out and found that they had all 5 Basses massively clearanced. To make a long story short, I fell in love with a beautiful LB 100 in metallic burgundy with a cream body edging....walked with it brand new in the case for $894! OF COURSE the Pickguard has GOT to go!

View attachment 2918976 View attachment 2918977

Great basses!

 

[Jim C]

We could practically start a Rockville Bassists club! Too bad three bassists wouldn't be much of a band....

You could add one more; I'm in Bethesda just a few miles away.
I was thinking earlier today tjhat I have plenty of Fenders and Stingrays.
In fact, it's time to sell one of the SR's and that having the last Leo style bass would be very cool.
Did some research on here (as I know nothing about G&L) and love the fravorable reviews, all the options they offer, as well as light weight!

Tell me if there is a better forum but I am looking for a P style instrument; an additonal bridge pup is OK but not 100% necessary.
I gather the Tribute series are made off shore and that the rest of the line is US made.
I have no idea what their pups sound like.
Do either series allow you to switch to a conventional P pup or are they custom sized.
Anything else to thing about other than the 10 zillion options?
The only surprise was the approx $150 extra to have the neck tinted (based on stores that have sold these).
Lastly, any particular years that are better than the others?

To the OP:
Sorry for the high jack but your bass looks incredible and you stole it!
Can't remember ever seeing a bound P body like that.

 

[selowitch]

You could add one more; I'm in Bethesda just a few miles away.

Glad to have ya!

 

[BaltBass5]

You could add one more; I'm in Bethesda just a few miles away.
I was thinking earlier today tjhat I have plenty of Fenders and Stingrays.
In fact, it's time to sell one of the SR's and that having the last Leo style bass would be very cool.
Did some research on here (as I know nothing about G&L) and love the fravorable reviews, all the options they offer, as well as light weight!

Tell me if there is a better forum but I am looking for a P style instrument; an additonal bridge pup is OK but not 100% necessary.
I gather the Tribute series are made off shore and that the rest of the line is US made.
I have no idea what their pups sound like.
Do either series allow you to switch to a conventional P pup or are they custom sized.
Anything else to thing about other than the 10 zillion options?
The only surprise was the approx $150 extra to have the neck tinted (based on stores that have sold these).
Lastly, any particular years that are better than the others?

To the OP:
Sorry for the high jack but your bass looks incredible and you stole it!
Can't remember ever seeing a bound P body like that.

Actually I have quite a bit of experience with G&L’s. I’ve owned a few USA Jazz’s, a couple of SB2’s and also played the tributes.

Personally, I think the SB tributes are pretty awful. Cheaply made and inconsistent in build quality.

The SB2’s are great but tend to be heavy and have a very distinct tone. Pickups are not easily interchangeable since they are slightly larger than standard sized.

The LB-100 is KILLER IMO and it utilizes standard sized P Bass pickups which are easily replaceable. Having said that, I wouldn’t bother as they sound great. The Pickguard is NOT standard size and is not replaceable with standard Fender style PG’s.

I owned 2 American Jazzes and both were Empress body so they were nice and light (7.6 lbs) and they sounded and played great!

 

[Nedmundo]

Tell me if there is a better forum but I am looking for a P style instrument; an additonal bridge pup is OK but not 100% necessary.
I gather the Tribute series are made off shore and that the rest of the line is US made.
I have no idea what their pups sound like.
Do either series allow you to switch to a conventional P pup or are they custom sized.
Anything else to thing about other than the 10 zillion options?
The only surprise was the approx $150 extra to have the neck tinted (based on stores that have sold these).
Lastly, any particular years that are better than the others?

As for pickups, the MFD split-coil in the SB-1 and SB-2 is a monster, with enormous output and thicker lows than a conventional P-bass pickup. When you roll off the volume, it sounds much more like a vintage P-bass. It's similar to DiMarzio's Model P, but I prefer the G&L.

The SB-2 has a single coil bridge pickup, and normally has no tone control, but G&L does make some SB-2T variants that have one. Lots of tones are available from blending the pickups, but the bridge pickup isn't meant to stand on its own. It's more for adding flavor to the split-coil. I almost never use the bridge pickup on my SB-2.

Regarding years, some G&L aficionados love the early ones from the 1980s, which are classics. So much so, in fact, that G&L just introduced a "CLF Heritage" L-2000 with an old style neck and control plate. They're really sweet.

Personally, I look for basses from 2007 to the present, because that's when G&L began using Plek fret levelling and adopted a new truss rod design. With the Plek treatment, playability is outstanding.

But I don't think there are any bad eras for G&L basses. They have changed neck profiles and other specs over the years, so models from different eras will feel different. For example, they slimmed down the five string neck profiles around 2010, and in 2015 their default fretboard radius on several models (including the SB models and LB-100) switched from 12" to 9.5". But you can still order 12", and for about five years each USA instrument has come with a spec sheet showing all the details.

 

[filler83]

So it seems that there are LB-100s that are new and on clearance at GC stores, at great prices. I don't see any new ones on their website anymore. How could I figure out if any are still avail in stores, and in what colors/fretboard configurations and prices? Would I just have to call store by store? Thanks

 

[Band Mom]

So it seems that there are LB-100s that are new and on clearance at GC stores, at great prices. I don't see any new ones on their website anymore. How could I figure out if any are still avail in stores, and in what colors/fretboard configurations and prices? Would I just have to call store by store? Thanks

Liked, because I'm interested in the answer as well. The only reason I knew to call this specific store was because of this thread, but otherwise I'm not sure how to figure out where any of these great deals are.