neepheid

Honestly, f this whiny thread. Waaaaaaaah, why doesn't every shop cater to my every whim? Every shop should have a decent selection of statistically rare basses. It's so unfair! They're doing shopkeeping wrong. They're not, you're doing shopping wrong.

Have you been to the paint mixing bit at B&Q? It's a veritable smorgasbord of daft colour names. I shake my head at some of the highfalutin names that some manufacturers use. "Smoked Almond Metallic" - oh get off your high horse, Epiphone, it's gold!

You went to the Guitar Guitar in Glasgow and it had heaps of basses/5s/fretless/lefties. You went to quite probably the best place for physically looking at basses in the whole of Scotland and thought you'd extrapolate it out to cover everywhere? Did you look in Kenny's or Merchant City? That'll bring you back down to a more average experience, but both of them are still better than some. Then come to Aberdeen. We only have one shop now - a Kenny's which tries to squeeze everything (guitars, keys, drums etc.) in because of its geography and has a bass:guitar ratio of about 4:1. This may seem healthy but there's less space. There is no dedicated floor to basses, there's a corner - and for that we are to be grateful. If there's a 5 or a fretless it's probably there by mistake. There's a cool second hand instrument shop but it's even smaller and the ratio varies but it is invariably worse than Kenny's and of course it's pure pot luck what they have in at any time. I enjoy a visit to Guitar Guitar in Glasgow when I'm down there but believe me, it's anything but normal!

They're already available in the States (of course) so I took a look at Sweetwater who often put up weights of the actual instruments they're selling: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/LB100TOW--g-and-l-tribute-lb-100-bass-guitar-olympic-white That poplar one is 9lbs 6oz according to them. Of course there will be variations, wood be woody, but that's your first point on the plot. They haven't posted up weights of the others yet, but I'm sure that'll come. Then you'll have a better idea of the potential fluctuations.

Did you waltz into a shop unannounced and buy any of them?

Oh well, if you've said it now it must be true

Sorry 5+ stringers and fretless folk - you are niche in the grand scheme of things. Come to think of it, you're a niche within a niche - think bass guitars vs. skinny stringers. I bet if you asked any mainstream manufacturer for a breakdown of their bass output it will be heavily skewed towards fretted, 4 string basses. Not that they'd divulge such info to the unwashed masses like us, but I'm willing to bet all the same.

Ha! Sorry, I was thinking of another thread Glad you're enjoying your bass, they do look good.

No, because I haven't been looking. That's partially down to the fact that I'm saving for a G&L Tribute LB-100 in around May, but mostly because I don't respect the "tradition" of black friday.

Thanks, me too. BTW, you're talking to an MFD believer. All the G&Ls I've owned have had them in some form or another (regular, M spec, split P, J (not that I ever used it), El Toro slim humbucker). Also I'm not traditionally a P bass man either. So I doubt I'll feel the same way as you. Having said that, I take on board what you're saying and will give the Alnico a fair listen (on its own, band rehearsal, gig) before deciding.

Nah, as long as it isn't 1½" (38mm) then I'll be happy. That's just a little bit too close together for my sausage fingers - I can work with it, but it's not my preference. I loved the half baseball bat neck of my Tribute L-2000, would be delighted with that

Thank you very much @Jonesy for bringing this to my attention: This just floats my boat in so many ways - it's a G&L (a brand I know, respect and trust), beautiful colour, tort's growing on me (was initially unsure), BLOCKS... WANT The good news for my wallet is that now that I've seen this colour combo I don't want the immediately available white or sunburst ones, I want this one. I contacted Andertons and was told "Yes, we will be placing an order with G&L for these basses so we are hoping to see stock in around 6 months or so". 6 months to save up, no worries. Just need to make sure I don't see other shiny things in the meantime! I've always fancied an SB-1. No Tribute model available though and I don't really want to pay USA prices for what is, in essence, a posh P bass. I had a Tribute SB-2 a while back and it was a good bass but there were a couple of things about it which weren't to my taste - the neck profile wasn't my ideal and it had a bridge pickup which I didn't care about or ever use. The Tribute LB-100 has a wider neck, and no bridge pickup but obvs no MFD. Maybe the stock pickup will be fine - I won't know until I try it and I certainly will give it a chance but if I swap the stock pickup out for a split MFD then I'll have how I think an SB-1 should be (the bigger body and wider neck of the LB-100 with an MFD), at a fraction of the price. So here's to putting a rough date on my game over post in the 2022 Gear Abstinence thread before it's even begun!

Oh you done gone done it now. Chat grenade, incoming, take cover!

I prefixed it with (imo)... tone control turned down sounds crap to me on any amp I've played through regardless of its class and I am in no way trying to tell you how to enjoy your bass.

I've seen people play amazing sets using Squiers and a rag tag assortment of amps and cabs. I would gig a £200 Squier Affinity without batting an eyelid and feel nothing but pity for anyone who looks down on me for it. Honi soit qui mal y pense, and all that. Some may point out that I have a USA G&L but as it's an L-1000 (a bass I had admired for some time) I didn't have much of a choice. There is no Tribute model - hell, for the longest time there wasn't even an option to buy one new. But if there had been a Tribute L-1000, I'd have saved myself the best part of a grand and got that instead, Tributes are fine* basses. Tangent alert! *Fine as in wine, not fine as in "acceptable". Also see use of the word fine in NE Scotland - pronounced a certain way means "very good indeed" instead of merely acceptable, often prefixed with "fit" (what) - the delightfully alliterative interjection "fit fine!" (often heard after telling someone you're having mince and tatties for tea) can be loosely translated into "very good!", "Aw man, you lucky so-and-so, I wish I was having mince and tatties for tea" or the rhetorical "how good is that?". Want another bonus NE Scotland thing? The word "rare" can be used in a similar way. Very confusing when applied to commonly occurring items. "I played a rare Squier Affinity P bass the other day" ... Also it is theoretically possible up here to have a RARE well done steak - although you should be having it medium at the very most, you heathen

Passive tone? 100%, almost always, save for when I remember the knob exists, turn it to 0%, remind myself how much I dislike the (imo) shapeless mush that comes out then go back to 100%

I can't make what I'm trying to say any clearer. If I've misinterpreted you or misrepresented something you wrote then I apologise. I'll go back to doing what I've been doing for the last 13 years without issues and stop interfering in what other folk do for their muting needs

I can't imagine you're seriously suggesting that I haven't already figured that out for myself so think I need to say what I said in a different way. You mentioned the fact that a pedal tuner mutes you then unmutes you with no difference to your volume setting on the bass and this would be difficult to achieve with the volume knob. I agree, but my point is that if you use the volume knob like I do (basically as an on/off switch) then the difficulty of returning to your previous volume setting with the volume knob is eliminated, hence eliminating this advantage of using the tuner pedal to mute your bass. Ok?

This only applies if you habitually use your volume knob at settings other than zero or max. The only time it's not on zero or max is when I'm doing a fade in/out (it's so infrequent I can't be bothered getting a volume pedal)

I think I said in many more words than necessary that the aesthetic is the only consideration as far as my sausage fingers are concerned.

I've had a little think about it and I have to come to the conclusion that the reason I don't notice differences in fretboard material is (relative) incompetence. Don't get me wrong, I play to a reasonable standard, but I'm lazy and I only play when I've got a reason to - a gig, a rehearsal, learning new songs. When I'm playing, I have to concentrate in the foreground of my brain that bit more than someone who plays more often than me, so I don't have spare capacity to take in the tactile scenery as I move around the fretboard. Unlike bass (an activity I partake in at most a few times a week for about the last 13 years) I've been driving for at least 28 years and have done it almost daily in that time so as a consequence I think I've become quite good at it in that natural way that good/enviable players make it seem when they're playing - things like what gear to be in, keeping the car in the direction it should be going have become background tasks so I can have spare capacity to appreciate how the car is driving, how different vehicles feel etc. Sorry for derailing the thread with this waffle. Back to the boards!

I'm sure someone will be along shortly to tell you that you're wrong.

I'm not at a point in my life where bass weight is a significant issue, but there have been times when the hollow body has come in handy - like the time I bruised my ribs and had back to back gigs on the same night - the light weight was very much appreciated Mind you, it's been a while since I've owned a 12lb+ boat anchor with strings - am I still strong enough to endure it?

That's really unlucky, sorry to hear that