G&L SB-2 owners... talk to me!

[wateroftyne]

Hey gang.

Just pondering the G&L SB-2....

Are there many owners out there? I'm wondering about:[list]
[*]The lack of a tone knob
[*]What the neck profiles are like
[*]How heavy (or light) are they?
[*]US vs. Tribute.. is there much in it?
[*]How P does the P pickup get when solo'd?
[/list]
...etc.

Thanks in advance.

[Graham]

[B]Lack of tone knob[/b]

I don't miss it, you can vary the tone dramatically by altering the relative pickup volumes, I think because the pickups are so powerful and have a lot of clarity it gives you a good starting point for varying the tone. If you found you really needed a tone control, there's a wiring mod that can give you that, which you can find over at the Basses By Leo forum.

[B]Neck profiles[/b]

These can vary, as American G&Ls are semi-customable when you order, so you can have any neck profile from the range they offer, I think there are maybe six different neck profiles/fretboard radiuses you can go for. The default neck profile is a jazz width, I`ve played two US SB2s - mine, a `95, which has a pretty standard jazz width, with a radiused board and a 2013 model at Bass Direct which had a very slim and shallow neck, more like the Lakland Duck Dunn I had before I got the SB2.

Up until around the turn of the century, I think, they had three bolt necks with a micro-tilt, they now have six bolt necks, which I think is much better; when I took mine im for set-up after getting it, they need to re-align the neck, which I think is common of three bolt necks.

[B]Weight[/b]

I can't give you a specific weight, but as the bodies are undersized they are quite light; I found mine to be lighter than my tribute L2000, and dramatically lighter than the Duck Dunn I`d had previously. I used the Duck Dunn New Years Eve 2012 and found my shoulder in a fair bit of pain the next day from the long set, I`d moved on to the G&L for NYE 2013 at the same venue and was absolutely fine the next day. That all said, I don't know how representative that is, as the Lakland in question (OBBMs old PJ) was quite heavy.

[B]USA vs Tribute[/b]

I`ve not played a Tribute model SB2 unfortunately, so can`t comment specifically, however both American and Asian models have the same US made MFD pickups, but with Basswood instead of Ash/Alder bodies and Chinese rather than American made hardware. I do also own a Tribute L2000 and it is a very good instrument, only slight gripes with it are the neck pocket isn't quite as tight as I`d like (not that I can tell if this impacts the tone) and the control cavity isn't as tidy as I`d like. That's me being picky and looking for issues, on the whole it`s a very good instrument and the Tributes are generally regarded as being pretty close to the American versions.

[B]Solo`d neck pickup[/b]

With volume on full it`s very hot, clear, almost brash and aggressive sounding, you`ll need your input gain lower lower than other passive instruments if you don't want the pre-amp to clip. Rolling down the volume makes it smoother, though still clear across all four strings and you can get to an almost Motown style thud (though obviously not equivalent to an Alnico P with flats) with the volume down low, but as it's so hot, you`be got more headroom to turn down - if you see what I mean

Sorry for the rather rambling reply, but I`m quite a fan of these instruments, let me know if you have any other questions

[3below]

SB1 (half an SB2?) experience. The three bolt neck is solid, mine dates to 1985, no issues at all, no need to be concerned. The MFD pick-up can get pretty aggressive, this is one of the few basses I use the volume control with.

[hamfist]

I had a tribute SB-2.
The neck was very thin (back to front). I like jazz necks, I even love Ibanez SR necks, but this was very slim, almost with a sharp profile edge. It hurt my hand on the edge of the neck where it rubbed up and down.
Sonically, I felt it was a bit weak. I blamed this on the basswood body, but will obviously never know which factors were involved. It certainly had nowhere near the balls of a half decent precision IMO. I may have had a bad one, but I'm just being honest in how I saw it at the time.
The general layout of the controls , without a tone knob was OK, but would have benefitted from a tone knob IMO.
I've never played a USA one so I just don't know how these compare.

It sounds as though I hated it, which just isn't true. It was a very competent bass. It just had a number of issues which, for me, were not what I was looking for.
I was looking for a sort of "super precision". The tribute certainly was not that.

Edited March 1, 2015 by hamfist

[gary mac]

If you are thinking of going for a G&L WOT, this is a useful link:

[url="http://www.americanguitarboutique.net/SB1BassGuitarGen.html"]http://www.americang...sGuitarGen.html[/url]


I've had two USA G&L's, an SB1 which is my main gigging bass and an SB2, which I recently sold on here. Both excellent but 1980's vintage instruments with different controls to the current models, so maybe not relevant to your question.

My SB1, although passive, is certainly a turbo charged Precision. The MFD pups in the USA models are very, very hot.

The SB1 weighs 9lb 4oz and the SB2 9lb.

The bridges are very substantial and a breeze to adjust and lock.

The neck plate, although only the three screw variety is perfectly stable and also has the neck tilt adjustment, to save on faffing with shims.

A couple of pics down below. The SB1 is the white one.

[url="https://flic.kr/p/q2J9zt"][/url]

[url="https://flic.kr/p/q2S4tN"][/url]

[url="https://flic.kr/p/pKiwWH"][/url]

[wateroftyne]

This is all very useful. Thanks everyone!

[stubass]

I played an American one for a couple gigs then bought a tribute. The finish was far superior on the USA model but apart from that, the tribby was just as good. The lack of tone control never once bothered me, if you started with both volumes rolled off a bit, it was easy to get some variation. My one gripe was that the bridge pickup was not near as hot as the neck pickup, on both models. Not really usable in its own right. A tone mod (easily done) would be my next move if I still had it. Plan to buy a USA one soon, preferably in trans burgundy as it looks lush in the flesh.

[NancyJohnson]

[quote name='gary mac' timestamp='1425218170' post='2705128']


[url="https://flic.kr/p/q2J9zt"][/url]

[/quote]

I've never owned one, but if I can make a teensy-weensy observation/comment it's that the headstock on the above models is way better than the[i] chewed by a bear[/i] ones on the later models.

Message ends.
P

[3below]

[quote name='NancyJohnson' timestamp='1425244862' post='2705563']
I've never owned one, but if I can make a teensy-weensy observation/comment it's that the headstock on the above models is way better than the[i] chewed by a bear[/i] ones on the later models.

Message ends.
P
[/quote]

I agree, but then I have one with the early headstock as well. Legal issues forced the change.

[neepheid]

[quote name='NancyJohnson' timestamp='1425244862' post='2705563']
I've never owned one, but if I can make a teensy-weensy observation/comment it's that the headstock on the above models is way better than the[i] chewed by a bear[/i] ones on the later models.

Message ends.
P
[/quote]

Wrong!

Eye gouger FTW.

[Graham]

[quote name='stubass' timestamp='1425242353' post='2705534']
My one gripe was that the bridge pickup was not near as hot as the neck pickup, on both models. Not really usable in its own right.
[/quote]

I`d agree with that, the bridge pickup is definitely quieter than the neck and you`d struggle to use it solo`d